McKissic fires Olympiacos to pulsating derby triumph
 

EUROLEAGUE REGULAR SEASON - ROUND 27

An inspired performance by Shaquielle McKissic fired Olympiacos to a pulsating 81-78 home triumph over Panathinaikos in the EuroLeague regular season.

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In one of the most highly anticipated games of the EuroLeague season, McKissic was simply unplayable at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, scoring 22 points and conjuring up a number of memorable dunks to fire Olympiacos to a hugely important triumph over Panathinaikos in Piraeus.

Kostas Papanikolaou (12 points), Taylor Rochestie (11 points), Sasha Vezenkov (10 points) and Octavius Ellis (10 rebounds) also enjoyed a productive evening for Olympiacos, while Nick Calathes (18 points) was the leading scorer for Panathinaikos. Incredibly, Panathinaikos only hit one of 20 three-point attempts, with Tyrese Rice (12 points) missing nine of them.

At the moment, Olympiacos sit in 11th position of the regular season with a 12-15 record, however this victory will give them further belief that they can qualify for the playoffs. Giorgos Bartzokas’ troops have now won two of their last three matches in the competition.

Earlier in the season, Rick Pitino’s Panathinaikos seemed assured of a playoff berth, but three defeats on the bounce have made their task a whole lot more difficult than it should really be. The Athenians, in sixth place, have won 14 matches and lost 13.

Olympiacos will now prepare to face league leaders Anadolu Efes in Turkey on Friday. Panathinaikos will welcome reigning champions CSKA Moscow to the OAKA Indoor Hall a day earlier.

THE MATCH

With the SEF crammed full of passionate Olympiacos fans, the hosts promptly made a blistering start against their arch-rivals, with McKissic thumping home an emphatic dunk and draining a three-pointer to give the Erythrolefki a 12-4 lead:

Panathinaikos soon settled in Piraeus, though, equalising at 12-12 with Giorgos Papagiannis hammering a dunk in. Calathes and Rice began to pull the strings as the opposing defence struggled to handle their creativity.

Rice converted a layup at the buzzer to make it 20-18 in Panathinaikos’ favour after 10 minutes.

The American guard got the second quarter going with a clever assist to the impressive Konstantinos Mitoglou (11 points):

However, just as Panathinaikos were threatening to pull away, Vezenkov drained two successive three-pointers and Brandon Paul got the supporters on their feet with a powerful dunk to bring Olympiacos level.

In response, Panathinaikos began increasing their intensity, forcing Olympiacos into cheap mistakes which subsequently allowed the away side to score easy fast-break points.

Nevertheless, Olympiacos suddenly turned the game on its head in the concluding plays of the frame, with Rochestie and McKissic hitting the target from behind the arc. McKissic finished the period with a successful layup to make the score 45-39 following a Jimmer Fredette turnover.

Olympiacos piled on more pressure in the third quarter. All of a sudden, Panathinaikos seemed to crack with the atmosphere becoming increasingly intimidating, and the Erythrolefki made use of panic plays from the Prasini to lead by six.

McKissic, bossing the match with his energetic, fired-up approach, continued setting the SEF alight with a series of highlight-reel dunks:

At one point, Panathinaikos seemed to be taking the initiative again, but Olympiacos closed out the period with watertight defence against Rice.

The tension reached a new level in the decisive fourth quarter.

Panathinaikos, before Olympiacos had a chance to gather their thoughts, levelled the score at 65-65 with Papagiannis producing a strong block and then laying the ball in at the other end.

Papanikolaou, understanding the importance of the next momentum shift, scored a majestic buzzer-beater midway through the period to put Olympiacos up by three.

The match, as only fitting for such a thriller, went right down to the wire.

In the last play, with only eight seconds remaining, Panathinaikos had a golden opportunity to salvage the match and send it to overtime. Deshaun Thomas, however, missed from the three-point line and the joyous Olympiacos celebrations could begin.

HIGHLIGHTS

by Shaun Nicolaides

Image Source: sport-fm.gr

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