And now the final...
Without Teodosic and Gordon, Olympiacos had no problem making 3-0 beating Aris with ease once again.
The ‘reds’ played an excellent second half and using their good defense as a weapon took the lead to levels that could leave no margin to the Thessaloniki team to threaten them.
Thus Olympiacos took the ticket for the play-offs finals where they will be facing Panathinaikos. The first final will be on Thursday (26/5 – 22.00)
Τhe quarters: 19-15, 43-39, 72-51, 87-64
Per quarter: 19-15, 24-24, 29-12, 15-13
Οlympiacos (Dusan Ivkovic): Papaloukas 11 (1), Spanoulis 13 (1), Printezis 7 (1), Bourousis 9, Keselj 5 (1), Μavrokefalides 9, Halperin 15 (3), Glyniadakis 2, Papanikolaou 2, Erceg 7 (1), Κatsivelis 4.
Aris (Lefteris Subotic): Κing 6, Τsairelis 4, Chatzivrettas 14, Charalampides 4, Κasirov 16, Κoumpouras 7 (1), Bavcic 9 (1), Chrysikopoulos 2, Verginis 2, Bohorides
The quotes…
Ιvkovic: “ It was a different game. We did not prepare for the third game bearing in mind that we would be playing the finals. In the first half, nevertheless, Aris played very well and our defense was not what we expected it to be. You asked me five days ago about fast breaks and fast baskets, with no defense, but there is no such thing. We were more focused in the second half. We played without two players that are lightly injured, Teodosic and Gordon, who are in great shape. I believe that they are both going to be ready for the finals. We start preparing”.
Papaloukas: We are done with the semis. Aris came here with no stress at all, this was obvious in the first half when they played more freely. I think that both teams were thinking more about the Thursday game. We were more serious in the second half and the difference of the two teams became obvious. From now on, we have to continue with the effort we began last summer, we are at the end of the road and we have to conclude the season as successfully as we want it to be.
We are talking about different teams. Olympiacos has to remain serious and focused. I think we have all realized how important the finals are and we are going to continue with the same concentration and will.
Subotic: It was a preparation game for both teams. We rested some of our players and gave minutes to some that did not have opportunities during the season. We wanted to see whether these players can help us against PAOK. We have been facing some injury problems and I hope we overcome them, because the League is not going to wait.
Κasirov: It was a very tough game and it’s difficult to play when no one expects you to win. We have had some positive moments in the game and I hope this is going to be of help in the next games against PAOK.