Olympiacos Piraeus will get a timely boost as team captain Vassilis Spanoulis is set to play after being sidelined due to his injury. They will be playing against Zalgiris Kaunas to solidify their hold on the third spot in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague standings.
Spanoulis has been one of the consistent players for the Greek squad, averaging 12.9 points per game and 6.4 assists this season. "V-Span" just recently hit his 1000th career assists a couple of months back.
The Reds are just coming off a victory after crushing UNICS Kazan, 90-75 led by Erick Green's 25 points and three rebounds. Vangelis Mantzaris took care of the playmaking chores left by Spanoulis and had a solid all-around game with his 9 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals.
Zalgiris, on the other hand, is also in high spirits coming into their match-up against Olympiacos after a hard-fought on-the-road 66-69 win against Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul. Kevin Pangos delivered a cold-blooded three that beat the shot clock buzzer at 1:28 point that took the fight out of the Pakistani club.
Olympiacos is currently tied with CSKA Moscow with 15-6 win-loss card with the latter taking the second spot due to quotient differences. Real Madrid is at the top of the standings with a 16-5 card after 79-71 victory over Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz.
Spanoulis was drafted in the 2004 NBA Draft as the Dallas Mavericks' 50th overall pick and played briefly with the Houston Rockets in 2006 . He is also the only player in Euroleague history to have 3000 index points and 1000 assists.
The 34-year old playmaker will be teaming up again with long time teammate and fellow Greece national team player Georgios Printezis, who had 20 points, 3 rebounds and 4 dimes in their last game.
Pangos will again lead the Lithuanian squad with their rock-built center Augusto Lima. The Spanish big man had 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in their previous win.
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