It was a dominant display by the Reds, who are starting to catch fire
McKissic and Vezenkov inspired Olympiacos past Milan
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Regular Season
Round 3 of 34
Group Regular Season
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On Tuesday night, Sasha Vezenkov and Shaq McKissic combined for almost half of Olympiacos Piraeus’ points in its 89-68 victory over EA7 Emporio Armani Milan at Peace and Friendship Stadium. The two Olympiacos stars netted 22 points apiece in less than 24 minutes each on the floor as the Greek side improved its record to 2-1.
After being named Round 2 joint MVP, Vezenkov delivered another extremely efficient display in front of the Olympiacos fans. The 29-year-old forward went 3 for 6 from inside the arc, 3 for 5 from deep and 7 for 8 from the line. He also recorded 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals for a PIR of 31. Should McKissic have not nailed a late triple, Vezenkov would have led all scorers on the night, but the Olympiacos summer signing made clear after the game that scoring tallies are not important as long as the team wins.
“We don’t care about these things,” Vezenkov said after the game. “The most important is that we played great defense for most of the game. One big win that gives us confidence. As we said from the beginning of the season, we have to protect our house, so we are really happy about that.”
Olympiacos won all four quarters (23-17, 16-10, 24-21, 26-20) and kept Milan to fewer than 70 points by producing a solid team performance on both ends. Despite playing less than 2 minutes in Round 2 against Zalgiris Kaunas, McKissic stepped up big off the bench when he was given the opportunity on Tuesday. He finished the first half with 12 points, including a layup to beat the second-quarter buzzer and didn’t play a single minute in the third, but he came to the fore again in the fourth to help his team clinch the victory.
“I don’t believe that we waited for Shaq’s performance today to know what he’s given to our team in the last five years,” coach Georgios Bartzokas said after the game. “He’s been here for almost the same time as we, the coaching staff, have been here. He knows everything. He knows how much we trust him. He could play 1 or 0 minutes in a game and then play 30 in the next one and he adjusts to this. He wants to be useful for the team. He’s the epitome of the unselfish player who always gives his best.”
There should also be a special mention to Kostas Papanikolaou, who led his team again on both ends. The Olympiacos captain scored 13 points in a complete outing that also saw him record 2 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal and 1 assist in a team-high 25:25 minutes on the court.
Olympiacos is now set to travel to Turkiye, where it will face Anadolu Efes Istanbul on Friday. Vezenkov, McKissic and Papanikolaou showed the way in Olympiacos’s bid to win its first road game of the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season and potentially complete a perfect double-round week.