Olympiacos Seizes Pole Position with Commanding Win Over Milan

The Fight for First

With just days remaining in the EuroLeague regular season, Olympiacos Piraeus entered the Peace and Friendship Stadium locked in a four-way battle for home-court advantage in the playoffs. A single loss could have sent them tumbling to fifth place, surrendering control of their postseason destiny to rivals with easier closing schedules. For EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, the stakes were equally urgent—sitting 14th at 16-21, the visitors needed every available win to stave off elimination from playoff contention. A defeat here would leave them vulnerable to the surging pack behind them, transforming their final stretch into a survival scramble. Both sides understood that this was no time for cautious basketball; the standings demanded a statement.

Control Established, Lead Extended

The answer arrived swiftly and decisively: Olympiacos 85, Milan 76. Sasha Vezenkov delivered 20 points on a ruthlessly efficient 7-of-16 inside the arc, while Nikola Milutinov imposed his will on the glass with 15 rebounds and 13 points, anchoring a performance that transformed a narrow halftime edge into a commanding double-digit cushion. The hosts never trailed after the opening minutes, methodically stretching their advantage through relentless paint pressure and suffocating transition defense. Milan's Shavon Shields fought valiantly with 24 points—including five triples—but his heroics proved isolated, unable to ignite the collective surge required to challenge a Piraeus side now sitting alone atop the EuroLeague standings at 26-12.

Dominance in the Paint

The foundation of Olympiacos's victory was built in the restricted area, where their bigs combined for 27 points on an absurd 62.5% shooting from two-point range. Milutinov's combination of post-ups and offensive rebounding generated 15 second-chance points for the hosts, repeatedly punishing Milan's undersized frontcourt rotation. Donta Hall added 14 points in just 14 minutes, converting five of six attempts around the rim while Josh Nebo labored through foul trouble on the other end. The visitors' inability to protect the paint opened driving lanes for Tyler Dorsey, whose 18 points came largely on aggressive penetration that collapsed Milan's defense. Meanwhile, the home side's perimeter defense limited Milan to 36% from three—a fatal deficit when Quinn Ellis and Leandro Bolmaro combined for just 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the floor.

The Third-Quarter Avalanche

Milan emerged from halftime trailing by just two points, 47-45, after Devin Booker's buzzer-beating triple capped a furious rally. But the third quarter belonged entirely to the hosts, who unleashed a suffocating 21-10 surge built on defensive chaos. Vezenkov scored nine points in a four-minute blitz, draining a transition three and then converting two layups off turnovers as Milan's passing stagnated into predictable isolation sets. The visitors managed just four field goals across the entire period—two by Shields, one each by Booker and Niccolo Mannion—while committing three turnovers that Olympiacos converted into eight fast-break points. By the time Thomas Walkup found Vezenkov for a corner three at the 5:09 mark, the lead had ballooned to 14, and Milan's tactical adjustments—switching to a zone, pressing the inbounder—arrived too late to stem the bleeding.

The Road Ahead

Olympiacos now controls its own fate, sitting alone in first place with a favorable closing stretch that includes no road games against top-eight opponents. A single win in their final two contests would guarantee home-court advantage through the quarterfinals, a critical edge given their 16-3 fortress at home. For Milan, the calculus is grimmer: at 17-21, they're now tied for 14th and clinging to playoff life by a single game. Their remaining schedule—road tilts against playoff-hungry foes—offers no margin for error, and Wednesday's collapse in the third quarter exposed the defensive fragility that has plagued them all season. Unless they rediscover their early-season grit, the visitors will watch the postseason from home, left to wonder what might have been had they matched Olympiacos's intensity when it mattered most.