Reporting from Belgrade
Olympiacos and Anadolu Efes collide in the first semi-final of the EuroLeague Final Four (19/05, 18:00 CEST).
The “Reds” aim to dethrone the reigning champions and advance to the EuroLeague Championship Game for the first time since 2017.
On the other hand, the Turks want to go all the way for a second straight year and join an elite group of back-to-back champions.
This is a battle between the two teams with the highest PIR of the season (93.2 and 94.9, respectively). Olympiacos will rely on its defense to get the upper hand, as they conceded 75.6 points per game.
The “Reds” will need to contain the superstar duo of Shane Larkin and Vasilije Micic, which is expected to run the majority of plays. Defensive specialists Thomas Walkup and Kostas Papanikolaou will aim to limit the two superstar guards.
Offensively, Kostas Sloukas, Sasha Vezenkov and Tyler Dorsey will run many plays, while the all-around game of Shaquielle McKissic could be a game-changer for the Greek giants.
For its part, Efes will have Krunoslav Simon unavailable due to a knee injury. Rodrigue Beaubois hasn’t played since Game 2 of the EuroLeague playoffs.
And as head coach Ergin Ataman told media, including Hedgeout.net, on Wednesday, his team will seek to build some momentum through its defense early in the game.
Olympiacos fans have bought the majority of the tickets and more than 10K fans of the “Reds” are expected to be in attendance at Stark Arena.
Last but not least, this will be the third meeting between the two teams this season, with Olympiacos and Efes split wins in the regular season series (1-1).
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