Euroleague. BC Khimki vs. Olympiacos31 march 2016

‪‪BC Khimki‬ defeated three-time Euroleague champ Olympiacos Piraeus in a crucial Top 16 home game — 98-66 (25-22, 23-14, 28-14, 22-16) with 21 pts by Koponen and 19 pts by Shved! We are alive again! The next game our team will play in Riga, Latvia vs. VEF in a VTB United League on Sunday, April 3. The beginning is at 17.00 msk.

BC Khimki: Koponen (21 + 4 assists), Shved (19), Augustine (18 + 10 rebounds + 3 assists), Boone (9 + 6 rebounds), Honeycutt (8 + 8 rebounds), Dragic (8), Monya (7 + 3 assists), Rice (4 + 4 assists), Ilnitsky (2 + 5 rebounds), Vyaltsev (2).

Post-game quotes

Giannis Sfairopoulos, Olympiacos Piraeus head coach:

"We want to congratulate Khimki on the win. Before the game we said it was like a final for us, but unfortunately we didn’t play it like a final. We played lower than our usual level. Khimki is a very good offensive team. We knew that in order to stay in the game, we should player tougher in defense to break their rhythm, to slow down their game. Unfortunately this didn’t happen at all and I can say that in the first half we tried to do some things better than in the second. There were some moments when we didn’t play smart. They got a lead of about 10-12 points in the end of the second quarter. After that it was very difficult to come back because they played with a lot of confidence and made some shots from outside we couldn’t stop. And the difference got bigger. I don’t like to find excuses, but for us it was the third final in a week. Of course, it’s very difficult for the players to find extra energy and to be so focused to play one more final in so little time. I think that was the reason why tonight we didn’t play with energy. We didn’t fight and it looked like we couldn’t follow the rhythm".

Darius Johnson-Odom, Olympiacos Piraeus guard:

"Congrats to Khimki. Tonight it was difficult to stop them in offense. We didn’t play our normal defense and gave up a lot of easy shots. It was pretty hard to contain them and slow down. We didn’t really match their rhythm tonight. We have one more game to keep fighting for the playoffs".

Dusko Ivanovic, BC Khimki head coach:

"This is an important victory and everything is in our hands now. We have a chance in the last game in Madrid. I think this game was about two things. First is very good play in defense. In offense we played with patience and with very good circulation of the ball. It’s true that we had excellent three-point percentage, scoring every time from good positions. I think we have chosen a more difficult way of qualifying to the playoffs because it’s very tough to win in Madrid. But I believe we can. My players will try to do it. We had a clear idea how to play with Olympiacos. We needed to do it like a team and tonight was the last option. We played with determination; that is most important".

Petteri Koponen, BC Khimki guard:

"I think everybody was focused tonight. We did a pretty good job both in defense and offense. We executed the game plan very well and made the right shots. Basically it’s a very good game for us. But we haven’t achieved anything yet because we have one more game in Madrid that we need to win. Everything is still in our hands. It will be one more fight and we need to be ready for that. For sure, it’s one of our best games in the Euroleague so far. We stopped Olympiacos at 66 points and scored practically 100 points. With such defense, we might beat every team. We have enough talent to score more points, but it’s all about our effort and focus on defense".