By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
The Greek Basket League Finals started with a “bang”! Panathinaikos stunned Olympiacos on the road, to win the game 81 – 83, making the 1-0 in the series and stealing the home-court advantage right from the hands of its arch-rival!
Four players of Panathinaikos scored in double-digits but among them, Nick Calathes was arguably the star that shined the most. He finished the game with 16 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds while James Feldeine added 16 and 7 assists. Matt Lojeski was the first scorer of Olympiacos with 21 points.
Even though the game began with the Greens as the bosses, since they finished the first quarter in front of the score 15 – 24 and were ahead 41 – 47 at halftime, the hosts dominated the third period to enter the last minutes of the game at the driver’s seat, 62 – 61. The match transformed into a rodeo the fourth period and the outcome was ultimately decided in the last minute.
With 35 seconds to go, Antonis Fotsis sank a decisive downtown basket to give his team a four-point lead making it 76 – 80. Matt Lojeski answered in the same currency and then Olympiacos bega to foul, to send the match into the “Russian Roulette” of the free-throw lines.
After successfull shots from both teams, Diamantidis was the first to make 1/2. With the score 80 – 82 and ten seconds to go, Olympiacos had a chance to tie or even win the match. But Papanikolaou was stuck among his opponents defensive claws and attempted a desperate shot as the final buzzer sounded, with the Greens leaving the court victorious.