The guard posted a personal EuroLeague scoring record of 25 points to steer the Greek giant past Zalgiris.
Isaiah Canaan delivered for Olympiacos with a career-best performance
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Regular Season
Round 10 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Olympiacos Piraeus breezed past Zalgiris Kaunas 89-72 at home in Round 10 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season after Isaiah Canaan served up a blistering individual performance.
The 32-year-old guard galvanized his team to its third successive win with a career-high 25 points, shooting the lights out with a barrage of three-pointers in the second half. At one stage, he even gestured that he had ice in his veins as the visitors were forced into early submission.
Walkup, not Canaan, led the way at first
Canaan did not look like emerging as the game’s top performer early on, as Zalgiris made it a physical and low-scoring contest in the first quarter when the teams were tied 19-19. Then, in the second quarter, it was Thomas Walkup who got the hosts going and sparked a 14-0 run with several shots from downtown, propelling Olympiacos into a 43-31 halftime lead.
Alec Peters, the team’s top performer this season, kept doing his thing throughout but it was Canaan who impressed the most after the break as he brought the energy which kept Olympiacos firmly in the driving seat, amid a sustained yet futile Zalgiris effort to turn the game around.
“Peters and I just tried to stay locked in as much as possible,” a delighted Canaan said in a flash interview as he walked off the court.
“Our teammates did a great job finding us. We work hard every day on finding our spots and trying to make the shots.”
Canaan, Walkup and Peters were key for Olympiacos
Canaan, who shot 8-of-12 from the floor and 5-of-5 from the foul line, acknowledged it was important to have players who’ve recovered from injuries back available again. “It’s good to start getting everybody back, we’ve been trying to weather this storm all season and every week is a step ahead,” he stressed.
Peters was the usual silent water that runs deep, netting from the perimeter as well as from inside to rack up 22 points, while Walkup added 14 as Olympiacos shot an impressive 15-of-29 from downtown.
Asked what inspired him and Canaan to such lethal long-range shooting on the night, Peters revealed that the two squared off in practice in the build-up to the game.
“Isaiah and I competed with each other in three-point shooting before the game, that’s what keeps us going and keeps the juice flowing,” said Peters. “We’re feeling great right now. Zalgiris is a really physical team and you have to win that battle if you want to win the game, so we came out in the second half determined to protect our lead.”
The home team’s head coach Georgios Bartzokas made it clear he had rooted out any possibility of complacency during the halftime team talk.
“We were alert and we spoke in the locker room about Zalgiris being a team that never gives up,” he said. “They play in the same tempo and have shooters in every position. We now need to show stability and consistency.”
Olympiacos will face a stern test of its credentials and the ability to make it four wins in a row when it visits an in-form AS Monaco in Round 11, whereas Zalgiris has the challenging task of bouncing back at EA7 Emporio Armani Milan.