This is what the protagonists of the game had to say after the dust settled.

Messina on win over Baskonia: "My players defended like crazy"


### Ettore Messina, AX Armani Exchange Milan
"I think my players had a very good defensive game. They defended like crazy for 40 minutes and rebounded pretty well. On offense, I think we shared the ball enough to win. It was a good shooting night for us but we kept moving the ball and made some important shots down the stretch, when it was very important. To win in Vitoria is always very difficult, and it is an important win for us. We are very, very happy. It is good that they followed my instructions - I would be in trouble if they wouldn't do that! Seriously speaking, in these days, the EuroLeague so challenging. You see there has been already a coaching change after two games. Two games, a coach has already been fired. This is not a good day for coaches, and of course, clubs are fully free to do whatever they think it is right to do, I am not questioning that. I am just saying that the EuroLeague is so challenging that every game is so important, every possession is so important, that to come out with a win tonight from my players means a lot and I am very, very grateful."


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Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz v AX Armani Exchange Milan (2021-10-08T18:30:00.000Z)

Long-distance shooting and ball movement made the difference in this game. Milan buried 12-of-27 shots from downtown (44.4%) and finished the game with 17 assists. 

Milan shoots better, circulates the ball

On the other hand, Baskonia hit 4-of-26 three-pointers, with the lowest shooting percentage from downtown at home (15.4%) since November 13, 2014 (15.0% 3FG vs. Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade). Baskonia was also limited to just 7 assists, tying the team’s fourth-worst mark at home in EuroLeague history. 

It was a close battle for 15 minutes until Milan improved its defense and made the difference as Baskonia went scoreless for almost 4 minutes. 

Milan makes run, stays way ahead

Meanwhile, a backdoor layup by Giampaolo Ricci sparked a 0-10 run in which Malcolm Delaney and Devon Hall each struck from beyond the arc. All of a sudden, Milan led 26-36 near halftime and the guests did a great job on keeping a safe margin from that moment until the final buzzer. 

In a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague classic decided in the final minute, Olympiacos Piraeus held off Real Madrid 74-68 in a jubilant Peace and Friendship Stadium on Friday night. The win improved Olympiacos to 2-0, while Real dropped to 1-1. 

Olympiacos holds off Real, improves to 2-0, 74-68

Neither team held a lead bigger than 6 points until Olympiacos used a 9-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to open a 70-59 margin. Real answered and got within a single possession in the final minute, but the Reds held on thanks to a basket from Sasha Vezenkov who paced the hosts with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Tyler Dorsey finished with 12 points in victory. Nigel Williams-Goss scored 16 for Real, and Walter Tavares had 15 points and 6 rebounds.

The offenses were not clicking in the early going, and the teams traded baskets when they did score. Tavares, Adam Hanga and Guerschon Yabusele netted from close range for the visitors, while Tyler Dorsey sparked the Reds early. Vezenkov used a pair of offensive rebounds to add 5 points to Olympiacos's tally, and help make it 13-10 after 10 minutes. Sergio Llull hit a transition triple to open the second quarter, but the Reds answered with a 6-0 run capped by a mid-range jumper from Kostas Sloukas. Giannoulis Larentzakis hit the first three-pointer for the hosts, but Williams-Goss scored twice at the other end to keep Real close. Both offenses picked up as the teams kept trading punches. Sloukas had a long jumper and Georgios Printezis delivered his trademark floater at one end, but dunks from Tavares and Vincent Poirier got Real within a single point, 28-27, and Williams-Goss scored 5 points to put the visitors up 30-32. Olympiacos regained the lead with a corner triple from Shaquielle McKissic, but Thomas Heurtel's baseline jumper gave Real a 35-36 halftime lead.

Gallery

Tavares had a three-point play to extend it to 37-41 early in the second half, but Kostas Papanikolaou answered with a triple. After Papanikolaou and Yabusele traded threes, Hanga put Real up 40-45. But Vezenkov and Sloukas combined to scored the next 6 points, all from close range, to restore the hosts' lead, and Dorsey's long-range dagger made it 54-52 after three quarters. Tavares opened the fourth quarter with an alley-oop dunk, but Vezenkov and Larentzakis hit back-to-back triples before a three-point play from Hassan Martin made it 65-56. 

A three-pointer from Dorsey then opened up the first double-digit lead of the night, and his jumper made it 70-59 with under 4 minutes to go. The hosts kept Real at bay with its defense, allowing just 4 points in the next two minutes, before Tavares dunked and Heurtel made a second-chance triple with 48 seconds left that got the visitors within 71-68. But Vezenkov scored at the other end, and the Reds prevailed.

Olympiacos Piraeus v Real Madrid (2021-10-08T18:00:00.000Z)

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Olympiacos has won its first two games of the season for the first time in three years. In addition, the club has won its first two home games for the first time since October 2017. 

For Reds, early-season drought is over

It is also the Reds' first win over Real since November 2018, a long wait for an even rivalry between two teams who have now met 33 times this century with Real holding an 18-15 edge.

Sasha Vezenkov was the only player in the game who played more than 30 minutes, and it paid off waiting for him despite him shooting 1-for-7 from long range. 

Pivotal Performer: Vezenkov put in the time

Vezenkov hit a key triple, sparking a 12-2 fourth-quarter run that gave Olympiacos a double-digit advantage, and the hosts never relinquished the lead after that.

Monaco has now beaten UNICS in all five of their matchups in European competitions. Both teams faced each other for the first time in the 2019-20 EuroCup Top 16.

Monaco: no losses against UNICS

Monaco defeated UNICS 78-84 at Basket Hall Kazan and registered a no-doubt-about-it 85-60 home victory. Last season, both teams met again in the EuroCup Finals. Monaco downed UNICS 89-87 at home, and went on to defeat the Russian powerhouse 83-86 to lift the EuroCup trophy. Only two players - Rob Gray and Rudy Demahis - are still with Monaco, as well as Coach Zvezdan Mitrovic. 

UNICS Kazan v AS Monaco (2021-10-08T16:00:00.000Z)

Bartzokas on beating Real: "The key was our defensive stability"


### Georgios Bartzokas, Olympiacos Piraeus

"In my opinion, the key was our defensive stability. We were consistent on defense for 40 minutes, staying with our plan. Everybody gave everything on defense. It is not easy to hold Real Madrid to scoring 68 points. They have a lot of talent, and we needed to make a great effort on defense."

"I would like to congratulate the team, obviously it is a big win. I think we controlled the pace of the game for 40 minutes. We were leading most of the 40 minutes, so we deserved to win. It is not easy against this great team. Right now they don't have any holes, having two or three players in every position, everybody is athletic, everybody is talented. So leading for almost 40 minutes and playing with this intensity, I think we saw our potential for this season. Of course, I would like to give big credit to our fans, for the big boost they gave us. We missed them the previous season. And also, because I am Greek and I know how everybody is thinking that we should we win the EuroLeague, I would like to say that this is just one win in the second game of the EuroLeague season. Being humble, keeping your mind in your head, and thinking always with the same approach of thinking about just one game and having a focus on the next one, will help us be successful."



### Pablo Laso, Real Madrid

"I learned what I already know. That the Euroleague is very difficult, playing away from home is difficult. I think we were solid during 36, 37 minutes, but in 3 or 4 minutes they scored good baskets, good shots. We missed a lot of open jumpers. We fought until the end, but we were behind them. We got to learn that every EuroLeague game is like this."

"I congratulate Olympiacos for the victory. I think it was a very solid game for both teams, good game of basketball. I think both teams played at a great level defensively. And I think it was in 2 minutes that Vezenkov and Dorsey scored 9 or 10 points in a row and that made the difference. That opened up the game and it was difficult for us to come back on the scoreboard. When you take a look at the stats, it is very difficult to win away from home with 12% from three-point line. we were 3-for-24. A lot of time numbers are only numbers, but today I think it was decisive that our three-point percentage was not good enough to win. Give credit to Olympiacos because they played a very good game, very physical, and they have a very good victory that we know we will have to make up in the future."



### Sasha Vezenkov, Olympiacos Piraeus
"It was a demanding game. It was an exhausting game. Real Madrid is a really physical team. We needed to manage their offensive game. On offense we did not play great, but in the second half we allowed 32 points, which is incredible in the EuroLeague nowadays. We did a great job and we won this game. I hit one out of seven threes, but I try to give everything to the team, in good moments and bad moments, but the most important thing is that we won."

### Tyler Dorsey, Olympiacos Piraeus
"It was a defensive game. In the first half both teams were playing good defense. We couldn't get the scoring going, but in the second half we moved the ball better, we got better looks and we closed it out. We knew we needed to have a better second half to push the lead, it was a close game all night. We needed a hard-fought battle to go into the double-week next week, to mentally test us. The atmosphere was great in there. When it gets loud, we feed off that energy. We need that every game, and we are going to take care of the home court."




### Nigel Williams-Goss Real Madrid
"I think our turnovers and allowing too many offensive rebounds really hurt us. We put ourselves in a bad spot. If you do that on the road against a good team, it is going to be tough to win. It is always tough to win on the road, especially here in Greece where they have really great fans. You got to be sharp, you can't turn the ball over, you can’t give up a lot of offensive rebounds. We gotta tighten up those areas we can control. When we do those things, and we are at our best, I think we are tough to beat. But we have to be focused to control those things."


Olympiacos did not shine from long range, making only 8 of 27 shots, but three-point shooting made all the difference in this contest. 

Late triples made difference for Olympiacos

Real Madrid finished the game 3-for-24 from long distance, while Olympiacos hit that many triples in a span of two and a half minutes in the fourth quarter alone, turning a 56-56 tie into a 68-58 lead. Sasha Venzenkov broke the tie and showed the way for Giannoulis Larentzakis and Tyler Dorsey, whose strikes from downtown gave Olympiacos a 68-58 cushion to work with going into the game's last 5 minutes.
