Olympiakos' four-game winning streak surprisingly ended on Thursday in Italy, and now they are tagged as massive favorites to bounce back in the Basket League opening round. It's been more than 20 years since Iraklis last won a head-to-head against them.
Iraklis Looked Solid in Pre-Season
Iraklis had a poor run in the Greek Basket League last season, failing to reach the playoffs after finishing in 9th place with an 8-16 record. Games on the road were quite problematic for them (2-10).
They played three pre-season friendlies in September and earned three straight victories, beating AEK Nicosia 89-73, Balkan 84-77 and Mykonos 84-73.
In their most recent head-to-head appearance against Olympiakos, Iraklis lost 95-70 in front of the home crowd in February this year.
Olympiakos Bringing Plenty of Scoring Power
Olympiakos' first domestic affairs this season came last weekend, beating AEK Athens 93-80 to advance to the Greek Super Cup final, then lifting the trophy after outplaying PAOK 101-96 in an entertaining final. Sasha Vezenkov dominated the floor with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
They started the new EuroLeague campaign with a dominant 106-89 victory against Baskonia in Spain, while also edging Zalgiris in Kaunas on Tuesday 93-91 thanks to Evan Fournier's fantastic shooting (19 points).
The Red and Whites were tagged as favorites on Thursday in Italy against Virtus Bologna, but their winning streak surprisingly came to an end, losing 96-94 mainly due to poor control on the glass (34-41 rebounds).