The Czech guard had a very impressive night as the Blaugrana defeated Olympiacos
Tomas Satoransky led Barcelona's never-say-die attitude in Game 3
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FC Barcelona trailed for the large part of its Game 3 contest at Olympiacos Piraeus, but it managed to force overtime and get a good-as-gold road win to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Playmaker Tomas Satoransky was the perfect example of Barca's resilience.
Above all, Barca never gave up when things looked like they could get out of control. Late in the fourth quarter and in the space of just 20 seconds, Filip Petrusev beat the shot clock with a 10-meter prayer, then Moses Wright had one of the biggest blocks of the current Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season, allowing Nigel Williams-Goss to score at the other end, giving Olympiacos a 69-63 margin with 2 minutes left in regulation time.
Most teams would have considered it a done deal, but Barca refused to roll over. Team captain Alex Abrines ignited his team's comeback with back-to-back three-pointers, his first makes of the game, before Nico Laprovittola took over with a wild reverse layup that tied the game, 71-71, with 7.6 seconds remaining in regulation. Abrines provided the key defensive stop, forcing Williams-Goss to take an off-balance shot, which he missed.
Satoransky saw Barcelona home
Once in overtime, Satoransky stepped up to make sure his team had a chance to win the game down the stretch. The 32-year-old scored in penetration and buried a critical three-pointer from the left corner to even the score at 80-80 with 36.6 seconds remaining. He went on to pick a non-shooting foul and played great one-on-one defense on Williams-Goss, with the Olympiacos guard having to take a very uncomfortable shot at the shot-clock buzzer.
Satoransky's defensive heroics allowed Barca to get the ball back and Jabari Parker then sealed the outcome from the foul line with just 0.5 seconds left. Barca won 80-82, regaining home-court advantage in the series.
"Well, I'm obviously proud of my team that we stayed in a game mentally. It was a very difficult game," Satoransky told EuroLeague TV after the game. "We were up in a lot of moments of the game, they came back with their hustle again. It looked like we lost the game. But we stayed calm and that's what it's all about in away games, you know: stay in the game and think about the next play. That's what we did today. And we hit some huge shots at the end."
"We played a very difficult game. You know how difficult it is to play on this court, and they played a very, very physical game," center Jan Vesely stated, also to EuroLeague TV. "We believed until the end and stayed together and executed what we prepared."
Satoransky came off the bench in Game 3 and had an impressive all-around performance. He finished the game with 13 points on 2-for-3 two-pointers and 3-for-4 three-point shooting, adding 4 rebounds, 5 assists and just 1 turnover for a team-high PIR of 20. Vesely led all Barca scorers with 16 points. Barca's Czech connection was crucial in grabbing the win in Game 3.
The guests finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds, 26 assists and just 12 turnovers, hitting 11 of 25 shots from downtown (44% 3FG).
"Nothing is done yet," Satoransky added. "We have to get prepared for Game 4, which is going to be, I'm expecting, the same tough game like today."