Crvena Zvezda left Athens with a 62–57 EuroLeague win on Friday, 6 November, and the score barely tells the story of how much Olympiacos had to chase. The hosts managed just 22 points in the first half, fell 18 behind at the break and made five of their 36 three-point attempts. Sasha Vezenkov scored 27, but one outstanding forward couldn't cover for an offence that spent too long searching for its rhythm. The official game record captures a night that got away from Olympiacos well before the closing minutes.
Red Star's advantage wasn't built on a spectacular three-point barrage of their own. They made seven triples from 21 attempts and led 40–22 at half-time after holding Olympiacos to 11 points in each of the first two quarters. Jordan Nwora gave the visitors 18 points and 13 rebounds, while their defence kept forcing the Greek side into uncomfortable possessions. Olympiacos finished with only nine assists, a telling number for a team that needed someone other than Vezenkov to consistently create a clean look.
The first-half shooting was especially costly: Olympiacos went one-for-16 from beyond the arc before the break. Evan Fournier eventually helped restart the attack in the third quarter, but he finished with 12 points and made just two of his 12 three-point attempts. Tyson Ward missed all six of his long-range shots, and Codi Miller-McIntyre and Nikola Milutinov were held scoreless. The problem wasn't simply that a few open jumpers missed. With so little secondary scoring, every Red Star stop made the next Olympiacos possession feel more important.
There was still a proper fightback. Olympiacos won the third quarter 19–11, then Vezenkov's three cut the gap to 57–53 with three minutes remaining. Fournier made it 57–55 with 1:39 left. The building had a contest again, but Red Star found the possessions that mattered: Christian Koloko scored inside, then Chris Jones hit a three with 43 seconds left to restore a seven-point cushion. Those late baskets, shown in the club's play-by-play and box score, were the difference between surviving a comeback and letting it become a collapse.
Vezenkov's 27 points were nearly half his team's total. He also had six rebounds and three steals, doing far more than waiting for the ball on the perimeter. Nwora's 18 and 13 gave Red Star a different kind of anchor: reliable scoring and a presence on the glass when the hosts tried to claw back extra chances. Olympiacos had the defensive resolve to make the final quarter tense, but Red Star had already done the damage by controlling the opening half. Olympiacos' match report details how that early scoring drought shaped the defeat.
The result left Olympiacos at 7–3, with another home EuroLeague assignment against Dubai Basketball scheduled for Thursday, 12 November. That's a useful immediate test of their response. Dubai won 93–75 at Virtus Bologna in the same round, so Olympiacos won't be facing a side short of confidence. The official fixture list puts the next game at 9.15pm local time. For Olympiacos, the priority isn't to manufacture 36 more threes and hope more fall. It's to get the ball moving, bring other scorers into the game earlier and stop another opponent from turning the first 20 minutes into a mountain to climb.
Comments