Lost the battle, but not the war...
Olympiacos was far removed from his usual standards and lost a great opportunity to be crowned the Champion of Greece in a packed SEF. They lost to Panathinaikos 85-88 and now all will be decided in game 5 that will take place on Friday (June 14) at the OAKA.
Strong defenses and good perimeter percentages by both teams resulted in a balanced game up until 8', with the 'greens' taking a small one-point advantage (16-17). However, Goss changed the equilibrium. The American guard passed the ball in the paint to Milutinov and Olympiacos succeeded - running a partial 8-0 - to come ahead with 5 points (22-17 at 10'). Panathinaikos once again struck from the long range, replied with a partial 7-1 and regained the lead (23-24 at 12'). But that was that... Playing a solid defensive game and with Goss, Petrusev and Larentzakis leading the offense, our team raised the margin to 11p. (47-36) and kept complete control of the game.
Panathinaikos closed in 51-44 at 20' with a buzzer-beater by Grant, while with him as the protagonist, the guests managed to come ahead 54-56 at 25'. Bad choices and missed free throws forced our team to trail the score, although Ergin Ataman's players did not succeed in leading with more than 3p. (61-64 at 29') during the third quarter. Canaan tied the score at 64 all (30') with a three, while with another three, this time by Larentzakis, Olympiacos got a small +4 (70-66). However, the 'red & whites' continued being frustratingly off target from the free-throw line, lacked clear thinking when in offense, when at the same time, Panathinaikos was striking from the perimeter with Nunn and consequently built an 8p. lead (73-81) at 36'. The 'red & whites' tried to turn the game around and with Peters closed in to 3p. (83-85), but, mistakes and two back-to-back failed attempts by Canaan behind the three-point line (83-86, 27'' and 21'' before the final buzzer) were decisive. Two missed free-throws by Nunn (16'' before the buzzer) re-kindled our team's hopes. However, Goss shot 1 for 2 from the same position, while on the contrary, Grant made both of his free-throws giving the 'greens' a 4p. cushion (84-88). At 6.1'' before the end, Papanikolaou won a foul on a three-pointer attempt, but he only made one of three (85-88). He got his own offensive rebound, but the long distance three pointer he attempted was way off target.
The quarters: 22-17, 51-44, 64-64, 85-88.
