By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Olympiacos started the game with a bang, scoring 20 points in just 6 minutes and leading 29-18 after the end of the first quarter. The Euroleague champions never looked back, led even by 23 points (78-55) and the final 84-72 (2-1) in their favor flatters Panathinaikos.
The Greens for one more game looked old and tired and could not follow the uptempo rhythm of Olympiacos. As Acie Law said after the end of the game: “We knew it was an important game and we wanted to push the tempo. Now we want to close the series in their home court”. Former NBA guard Law played for the first time in the finals because of his ankle injury and contributed 9 points and 3 assist. The top scorers of the winners were Giorgos Printezis (16 p.) and Vasilis Spanoulis (15 p.).
Defeated coach Zeljko Obradovic admitted: “We started the game in a very bad way and with the exception of the start of third quarter, we continued to play like that. Olympiacos had 13 offensive rebounds in the first half and we had 9 defensive and not even one steal”. Winner Dusan Ivkovic added: “We are just a little closer in our goal of winning the championship. We are a younger team, but we can’t play like that in OAKA (ed.note: the home court of Panathinaikos). Law helped us a lot. I believe it will be more easy for us now”.
Olympiacos – Panathinaikos 84-72
OLYMPIACOS: Hines 6, Law 9, Antic 7, Spanoulis 15, Dorsey 2 (9 r.), Keselj 10, Gecevicius 6, Printezis 16, Papanikolaou 6, Mantzaris 5, Sloukas 2
PANATHINAIKOS: Maric 3, Perperoglou 9, Batiste 12, Logan 9, Sato, Tsartsaris 7, Diamantidis 12, Vougioukas 3, Calathes 2, Smith, Kaimakoglou 9 (7 r.), Jasikevicius 6