Zalgiris Kaunas took a commanding 2-1 series lead over Olympiacos on Tuesday night after the Lithuanian side pulled-off an 80-60 blowout win at the Zalgirio Arena in the third game of the series.
Brandon Davies once again led Zalgiris as he tallied 18 points in the win which now puts the Lithuanian giants on the verge of their first EuroLeague Final Four since 1999.
Vassilis Spanoulis was one of only two Olympiacos players to notch double digits in points on the night as his 14 points led a frustrated Olympiacos offense.
In what was a tight matchup in the first two games in Piraeus, the trend continued in the first quarter as both sides battled to take control before Zalgiris secured a 21-19 lead by the end of the first quarter.
That same trend vanished in the second quarter, however, with Zalgiris dominating the second frame on the heels of a 26-17 run to take a commanding 47-36 lead into halftime.
Zalgiris only improved their advantage in the second half as Olympiacos' offense began to hit a wall. The Lithuanians didn't leave much space for Olympiacos' guards, while every trip inside the paint was contested by tight marking from the home side.
Having padded their lead to 17 points (67-50) by the start of the final frame, Zalgiris looked to be in cruise control until the final buzzer. For Olympiacos coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos, it wasn't long before the focus of the night turned to damage control as the Piraeus giants began to look towards the all-important fourth game of the series in Kaunas on Thursday.
Olympiacos will need to rebound on Thursday in order to keep their big for a second straight Final Four alive, though the club's worst playoff loss since 2008 doesn't offer much comfort for fans of the Erythrolefki.