Dominant Olympiacos “kneeled” Panathinaikos for the title lead!

Match… title bowl for the Olympic!

With more energy from the second quarter onwards, where they dominated the floor, the “red and whites” prevailed comfortably 75-52 of Panathinaikou and now they are one win away (2-1) to win the championship.

The match

Olympiacos started with Fal, Vezenkov, Papanikolaou, Luntzis and Walkap, while Panathinaikos started with Papagiannis, Agravanis, Grigonis, Bohorides and Lee. Explosive start from the “red and whites” with their good defense and Luntzis initially went 7-0, with Vezenkov keeping them at +7 (11-4), until the 4th minute. Then, the “greens” reacted with Papagianni and Ponitka getting closer to the basket (11-9), with Walkap and Fal responding and the Pole bringing the derby to a point (15-14), at 7′. In fact, the last minutes belonged to the “clover”. With their defense, the players of Serelis had completely taken the Piraeus out of rhythm, while on the other hand, with Li in front, they closed the first period in front (18-19).

With a changed… chip, Olympiacos entered the first three minutes of the second period, with the good defenses of Boloboi and points from Sluka and McKissick went on a 7-0 run, for +6 (25-19). Gudaitis’ shots temporarily stopped the “red and white” streak, but Panathinaikos showed difficulty in returning to the spirit of the derby. The Piraeus were putting out tremendous energy in defense, they made back-to-back steals and with McKissick, Larentzakis and Fal as the protagonists, they went on an 11-0 run, for +15 (36-21), in the 17th minute. In the remaining time, Barzoka’s players became more static and thanks to the “green” defense and with Grigonis on the other hand… being activated offensively, the guests closed the first half with a 7-0 run (36-28).

Papagianni’s basket started the second half, with Olympiakos responding immediately with Walkap and Vezenkov and with an 8-0 run, for +14 (44-30), in the 24th minute. Panathinaikos reacted with good defenses by both Papagianni and P. Kalaitzakis, reducing the difference to a single digit value (46-38), in the 25th minute. Then, the Piraeus regained control of the derby, forcing the “greens” to make mistakes and with the Fal-Sluka duo they scored individually 11-2, for +17 (57-40), in the 29th minute. The only thing that changed until the end of the third period was 1/2 shots by Bohorides, which made it 57-41.

Olympiacos entered the fourth quarter with the same energy, with Pites and Larentzakis sending them to +20 (64-44), with Panathinaikos on the other hand having great difficulty, especially in the attack, until the 34th minute. The reaction of the “greens” was a shot from Gudaitis, with the Piraeus going to +25 (70-45), in the 26th minute. From that point on, the “clover” seemed to have no strength, with Barzoka’s players playing more with time and in the end taking the victory with the final 75-52.

The quarters: 18-19, 36-28, 57-41, 75-52

See here the match statistics

Watch the film of the match here