The Reds' defense limited the visitors to just 29 points in the first half
Olympiacos takes care of Real Madrid, 84-72, in Game 1

Olympiacos Piraeus made the most of a bouncing Peace and Friendship Stadium and opened its Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoff series against Real Madrid with an 84-72 victory on Wednesday night. The Reds led from start to finish, with their defense strangling Los Blancos, which scored just 29 points in the first half. Real Madrid fought back and won the last two quarters, but the hosts maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half.
Sasha Vezenkov combined his game-high 23 points with 7 rebounds for a PIR of 31. Evan Fournier netted 13 points, Nikola Milutinov scored 11 and Alec Peters added 10. Sergio Llull paced Real Madrid with 16 points, Mario Hezonja recorded 13 and Dzanan Musa bagged 11.
Game Videos
Walter Tavares opened the scoring with a trademark hook bucket, but 5 points from Vezenkov, 4 by Fournier and a three-point play from Nigel Williams-Goss gave Olympiacos a 12-2 lead. Inside scores from Kostas Papanikolaou, Fournier and Vezenkov made it 21-6. Milutinov netted back-to-back baskets off the bench, but Andres Feliz and Alberto Abalde scored on the other end, cutting the deficit to 27-14 after 10 minutes.
Buckets by Williams-Goss, Milutinov and Shaquielle McKissic allowed the hosts to maintain a 33-18 cushion. Serge Ibaka responded with a triple and Gabriel Deck scored inside, but Saben Lee and Milutinov dunked in transition before a Vezenkov corner three established a 42-25 lead. Then, Musa netted 4 straight points from the charity stripe, but Peters nailed one from deep to make it 47-29 at halftime.
Real Madrid head coach Chus Mateo was ejected with a second technical foul before Vezenkov and Campazzo traded triples to open the third quarter. Hezonja drilled one of his own before baskets from Tavares and Feliz brought Real Madrid within 58-43. Llull connected from downtown and Feliz went coast-to-coast for a layup, but Fournier replied from inside for a 64-51 cushion heading into the closing quarter.
Milutinov added 2 points to his tally and Peters scored back-to-back baskets for a 77-53 lead. Llull netted 8 straight points on the other end, but Thomas Walkup replied with a triple on his return to action after three and a half months sidelined through injury, 75-61. After Musa netted a floater off the glass, Fournier responded with a triple for a 78-64 lead. Llull drained a corner triple, but Peters answered with one of his own to make it 82-67, practically putting the game to bed.