Great performance by Olympiakos at OAKA. The Piraeus team showed its mettle, beating Panathinaikos AKTOR 89-84 and taking the home advantage in the finals of the Stoiximan Basket League.
The first of probably the most… abbreviated finals in Greek League history, painted in red and white. On Wednesday night (5/6), Olympiakos defeated Panathinaikos in OAKA (89-84), tearing up the home of the European champions with a “good evening” and giving the finale of an epic year an even more wild character.
Giorgos Bartzokas’s team came in with a knife in their teeth and the first half saw Nikolas Miludinov in superb form and Walkup, Williams-Goss, Papanikolaou and Petrusev ready for the game. Olympiacos, with extra motivation to beat the European champions at home, showed the character of a great team after being hurt by the final four in Berlin.
On the other hand, Erkin Ataman’s team (ejected in the 38th minute), had a bad night in Kendrick Nunn’s execution, failed to find a score in the racket, failed to match the level of energy, concentration and determination of their opponents and will now have four chances for three wins that will give the Greek championship. With the second match scheduled for Friday night (7/6) at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, the level of difficulty has risen.
Series results and schedule
- Game 1: Panathinaikos – Olympiakos 84-89
- Game 2: Olympiakos – Panathinaikos 7/6 at 21:30
- Game 3: Panathinaikos – Olympiacos 10/6 at 21:15
- Game 4: Olympiacos – Panathinaikos 12/6 at 21:15 (if required)
- Game 5: Panathinaikos – Olympiacos 14/6 at 21:15 (if necessary)
Ο MVP
Walkup (scoreless in seven minutes in the first half, 15 points in 20 minutes in the second half), Williams-Goss, McKissick, Papanikolaou and Petrusev played well, but Nikola Miludinov was the difference maker. With Mustafa Fall out for the entire series, the Serbian scored a double-double (11/8) in the first half, making no mistakes and being Olympiakos’ main source of offense. He wasn’t that great in the second part, but he did his job even better.
The weakest link
At this time, Superplayer Kendrick Nunn saw Earth. He didn’t get hot in the spots that mattered, was inaccurate in the first half (3 points on 1/9 shooting), had too many open executions, and was productive when his team couldn’t come back. He finished the game with 21 points on 21 shots, two assists to four turnovers and three blocks in 36 minutes. Others lagged behind, but Nan’s poor first half played a part in Panathinaikos’ entire psyche.
Stats that stand out
Both teams finished the first period with one foul (0-1), but they shot 35% and 38%, respectively. Peters and Milutinov scored 15 of Olympiakos’ 19 points, while the home team made six mistakes in the second quarter and finished the quarter with 4-of-11 2-pointers and 1-of-9 3-pointers. Against him, Miludinov had 24 PIR (11 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks). By the end of the night, the guests had dominated the Rockets in points (24-40) and second chances (7-21). By the end of the night, Olympiakos had committed seven fouls.
race
Panathinaikos started the match with Grant, Nunn, Grikonis, Midoglou, Lesser, Olympiakos, Walkup, Cannon, Papanikolaou, Peters, Miludinov. Four of the red and whites started 0-6 of 3′ with 2/2 three-pointers, the greens were tense and ineffective, while Milutinov had no opponent on the racket and with a goal-foul he wrote in 9-18. 8′. Consecutive 3-pointers by Slukas gathered the margin, an offensive foul by Cannon and Lesser made it 17-19.
McKissick stood out early in the second with his explosiveness in 1-on-1 situations (28-29 at 15′), Olympiacos kept pace at points where the home team was ready for a small burst. Williams-Goes with a three-pointer (31-38 at 17′) and Petrusev in the second attempt (31-40) kept Prayez in front and at a distance, the guests clearly rose to 37-46 at halftime. In all fields.
Atman started the second half with Kalaitsakis replacing Krikonis, and the Greek regional player fouled Valkop, who made 3/3 shots to give Olympiakos a 12-point lead (37-49). The ace of the red and whites did what their opponent wanted (41-55 in 23′), Lesser and I led the counterattack and -7 (51-58 in 26), giving the walkup team a huge suffocation. Three points 56-62 in the 29th minute. At a point when OAKA was on its feet.
A huge assist from Williams-Goss and a walk-up shot from the corner made it 56-69 at the start of the quarter, and another corner made it 57-72 in the 33′ and Olympiakos never looked back. Nunn hit a 3-pointer to make it 72-79, but Mitogulo fouled out with 1:51 left, Atman got out with a second technical penalty, Williams-Goss made a +8 shot and McKissick made it a 2/2 game. .
Referees: Papapetro, Karbanos, Dionas
Decades: 17-19, 37-46, 56-66, 84-89
Panathinayakas (Adaman): Grant 7 (1/5 shots, 2 rebounds, 6 assists), Nunn 21 (3/9 2-pointers, 5/11 3-pointers, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 turnovers), Lesser 14 (6 /8 2-pointers, 2/4 shots, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks), Grikonis 6 (2/3 3-pointers), Midoglou 8 (2/5 3-pointers, 10 rebounds), Kalaidzakis , Vildosa 3 (1/3 3-pointers), Slokas 16 (5/7 three-pointers, 5 assists), Papapetrou 2, Antetokounmpo, Hernangomet 7 (1)
Olympics (Bartzokas): Walkup 17 (2/8 2-pointers, 2/3 3-pointers, 7/7 shots, 5 assists), Cannon 4 (1), Papanicolaou 11 (2/7 3-pointers, 7 rebounds), Peters 8 (2), Milutinov 12 (5/8 2-pointers, 2/3 shots, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks), Williams-Goss 16 (4/7 2-pointers, 1/1 3-pointer, 5/5 shots, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals), Laurentzakis, Petrusev 10 (5/6 2-pointers), McKissick 11 (4/6 2-pointers, 3/4 shots, 3 rebounds, 4 assists)
Team statistics of Panathinaikos: 14/31 2-pointers, 16/36 3-pointers, 8/10 shots, 36 rebounds (26 defensive – 10 offensive), 19 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks, 12 turnovers, 26 fouls
Team statistics of Olympiakos: 22/44 2-pointers, 8/21 3-pointers, 21/26 shots, 36 rebounds (25 defensive – 11 offensive), 19 assists, 6 steals, 4 blocks, 7 turnovers, 20 fouls
