Reds, Real soared in the semis
Olympiacos Piraeus enjoyed one of the most dominant quarters in Final Four history to roar back from a 12-point halftime deficit and trounce AS Monaco 76-62 in the first semifinal at the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four at Zalgirio Arena in Kaunas. Freshly-crowned EuroLeague MVP Sasha Vezenkov led the way with 19 points and 6 rebounds and Kostas Papanikolaou shined with 15 points and 8 boards for the winners.
Later Friday, Real Madrid beat FC Barcelona in the semifinals for the second year in succession. Los Blancos won 66-78 after once again finding an extra gear in the latter stages of the game to come out with the victory. Walter Tavares was the man of the evening for Real, pairing 20 points with 15 rebounds. He also had 4 blocks, including one in the closing minutes of the contest to prevent a late Barca fightback. Mario Hezonja was also key in the win, scoring 14 points and grabbing 9 rebounds.