The Reds overcame Los Blancos to make the most of their home-court advantage
Olympiacos outlasts Real Madrid, 77-71, for a 2-0 lead in the series

Olympiacos Piraeus took a 2-0 lead in its Turkish Airlines EuroLeague playoff series with Real Madrid by grabbing a hard-fought 77-71 victory in Game 2 on Friday night. The visitors hit the ground running and took a 15-25 lead into the second quarter, but the Reds outscored their opponents in each of the last three periods (23-13, 19-16, 20-17) to turn the game around and protect their home floor.
Sasha Vezenkov paced Olympiacos with 22 points and 7 rebounds, with Evan Fournier netting 17 and Nikola Milutinov recording 10 points. Mario Hezonja was the only Real Madrid player to record double digits in scoring by ending the game on 22 points, which he paired with a team-high 8 boards.
Game Videos
Hezonja and Walter Tavares got Real Madrid going with back-to-back buckets before triples from Facundo Campazzo and Alberto Abalde gave the visitors a 4-10 cushion. Then, Hezonja and Serge Ibaka scored inside, with Gabriel Deck connecting from deep and Dzanan Musa netting a layup to open a 10-23 lead. Vezenkov responded with 5 straight points, but Deck netted an off-balance buzzer-beating jumper to restore a 15-25 advantage.
Milutinov and Bruno Fernando traded scores inside before a couple of buckets from the former cut the difference to 24-29. Real Madrid answered with Usman Garuba hitting a three and Andres Feliz scoring in transition to restore a 24-34 lead. Yet, Olympiacos went on a 14-4 run fueled by Saben Lee to tie the game 38-38 at halftime.
The second half started with an exchange of blows before triples by Abalde and Hezonja put Real Madrid in front, 45-50. Fournier took over with 7 straight points before a corner triple by Luca Vildoza gave Olympiacos a 57-54 edge after another low-scoring quarter, where the two defenses suffocated the opposition offenses.
The Reds went on a 7-0 run to open the closing quarter, with Vezenkov adding 5 points to his tally to give his team a 10-point cushion. Real Madrid scored its first points of the fourth with 4:53 left on the clock, when Hezonja netted a layup in transition. Nigel Williams-Goss drilled a triple, but three straight buckets from Hezonja and a Campazzo layup made it a one-possession game, 67-64. Yet, Olympiacos fought back, as Alec Peters and Williams-Goss nailed back-to-back triples to restore a 73-64 lead, practically finishing the game off.