Athens Derby: Olympiacos beats Panathinaikos

The final week of the Euroleague Top 16 brought with it an Athens Derby to remember as Olympiacos and Panathinaikos fought it out in a classic. The bitter rivals are once again in the fray for the Euroleague title, and while both clubs are already certs for the playoffs the game was one where plenty of pride was at stake. Also on the line was third place in Group E, and it was the reigning champs Olympiacos who come away with the win after an amazing 68-65 success.

Sure, a 68-65 score line may not impress on paper, but on the court the Basketball was typically ferocious between these teams and Olympiacos made it an Athens Derby to tell the grandchildren about.
Inside the Peace and Friendship Stadium, hosts Olympiacos struggled for most of the game and trailed by double digits. However, a storming last stanza got The Reds back into the contest and a dying seconds score gave the team and unlikely win.

The current double Euroleague title holders moved to third in Group E with an 8-6 record, sending Panathinaikos into 4th with a 7-7 record. As for Panathinaikos, yes the ego of The Greens is bruised but the club will live to fight another day in the Euroleague.

Olympiacos Piraeus vs. Panathinaikos Athens, 68-65

First quarter
The game started cagey as neither team could find the basket. After nearly three minutes of deadlock, Ioannis Papapetrou nailed from the corner for three points and was followed by Evangelos Mantzaris, who doubled the Olympiacos advantage to 6-0. Panathinaikos was slow out of the gates and it was not until the fifth minute that the team scored, with Antonis Fotsis sinking from downtown. Papapetrou responded in the paint for the hosts before Vassilis Spanoulis opened his account to make it 10-3. Roko Ukic was the architect of a Panathinaikos comeback as he bookended a 0-10 run that gave the team its first lead at 10-13. The visitors held the advantage for the remainder of the quarter as the first ended 12-16.

Second quarter
Michael Bramos hit from beyond the arc to open the second quarter and extend the away teams´ lead to 12-19. Bryant Dunston put the hosts on the board in the second frame but was matched by Zack Wright for Panathinaikos, before Brent Petaway slammed hard to close the gap to 17-21. The middle of the quarter saw The Greens pull clear again thanks to Loukas Mavrokefalidis, who took hold of the second quarter and scored 10 points in 10 minutes. Later in the period Antonis Fotsis made it an 11 point game as the visitors continued to dominate, with the halftime score reading 29-37.

Third quarter
At the midway point it seemed Panathinaikos would be celebrating a comfortable Athens Derby win, and it looked that was the case in the third quarter. Mirroring the first half, both teams struggled to trouble the scoreboard and there were over three minutes without a single basket to open the second half. Jonas Maciulis scored consecutive layups to recommence scoring for Panathinaikos, extending the lead to 29-41 in the process. With 12 points the difference, Olympiacos would need a special comeback to claim a win. The Reds finally woke up and spent the middle of the third frame cutting into the Panathinaikos lead. With the score at 35-41 the current champs sensed a change in the game and struck through a Kosats Sloukas triple alongside a Dunston two pointer and split from the charity strip. The hosts had come back and held the lead for the first time since Q1 (42-41) and even extended it to 45-42 through Mantzaris from distance. Panathinaikos responded well and reclaimed the lead at the end of 30 minutes, with the board reading 46-48.

Fourth quarter
Olympiacos´ good work in the third quarter was quickly undone at the start of the final stanza as Panathinaikos struck through a Ramel Curry triple and a two plus foul from James Gist (46-54). The eight point deficit was maintained over the next minute and it looked like the Athens Derby would be won by Panathinaikos. However, Olympiacos still had current Euroleague MVP Spanoulis and it was he that started to drive the team towards an unlikely comeback. The guard fueled The Reds down the stretch as point by point the home team chipped into Panathinaikos´ lead. The game was tied at 60 apiece with less than five seconds on the clock; Olympiacos called time out and fed Spanoulis. The guard proved his skill once more by moving behind the arc and deftly sinking a three pointer to secure the win with 0.5 seconds of the game remaining.

Olympiacos would have been happy to send the tie into overtime after being second best for much of the contest, but Spanoulis stepped up and supplied the win with five points in the final 23 seconds. Sloukas and Dunston paced the winners with 12 points, while Mantzaris 11 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Mavrokefalidis scored 17 points for Panathinaikos and was 100% from two point range (7 from 7). Curry notched 10 in a game The Greens arguably should have won.