Euroleague: Panathinaikos vs. Olympiacos

The Athens Derby, one of the biggest games in European Basketball, was typically feisty and tight this evening as Panathinaikos downed current Euroleague champs Olympiacos.

It was a busy night in Group E of the Euroleague Top 16 as Barcelona remained undefeated after emerging victorious from an all Spanish clash with Laboral Kutxa. Elsewhere EA7 Milano welcomed Malaga to Italy and claimed a comfortable home win to remain in contention for qualification. In Group F there was one game on Thursday as Galatasaray toppled Partizan NIS on the road.

Athens Derby

An extremely close game between the two giants of Greek Basketball brought all the tension we have come to expect from one of the premier games in the Euroleague calendar. Panathinaikos welcomed great rival Olympiacos to the Olympic Sports Center in Athens and came away with a slender 66-62 victory. As the score suggests, this was a close fought win for The Greens as they had to dig deep to see off the current two time Euroleague champions.

With neither team able to dominate the game saw an incredible 14 lead changes and 13 score ties before Panathinaikos sealed the victory in the final minute.

First quarter

Olympiacos opened the contest with a layup from Bryant Dunston, but the visitors’ early hold lasted seconds Stephane Lasme responded for Panathinaikos, setting the tone for the game. The hosts took their first advantage in the game as Roko Ukic struck from downtown to put the score at 10-9. Georgios Printezis hit two consecutive baskets to wrestle the lead back for Olympiacos and there really was separating the teams, although Panathinaikos held a small one point lead after 10 minutes of play (19-18).

Second quarter

The trading of the lead continued until the teams were locked at 23 apiece. From there Panathinaikos opened the first substantial lead of the game by going 27-23 ahead (the lead would never be bigger than four points for either team) as Lasme and Ukic found home from within the arc. Olympiacos responded by reeling off a 0-8 run to give the visitors their own four point cushion with the board reading 27-31. A quarter that was full of 8-0 runs continued when Panathinaikos put another streak together to go 35-31 ahead, although the away team struck back to send the teams in at halftime with the score sitting at 35-33.

Third quarter

It had been a chess like game in the first half and the tactical battle of wits continued in the second half as Lasme gave Pana an early 37-33 lead, only for Olympiacos to come roaring back to 37-37. The home team stretched the lead to 42-39 midway through the third, but a timeout by Olympiacos saw The Reds put six points on the board with no reply to take a 42-45 lead. Lasme was in the ascendancy for Panathinaikos and put the team back in charge at 47-45, but Mardy Collins beat the buzzer under the basket to tie the game at 47 each with just 10 minutes to play.

Fourth quarter

The pattern of the game had long been established and it was not about to change in what became a tense fourth period. Neither team could get control until Olympiacos held a 59-61 advantage with just 2 minutes left. Dimitris Diamantidis stole the lead back at 62-61 from the line, and James Gist hit one of his free throws to extend that to 63-61. Stratos Perperoglou had the chance to keep the game for Olympiacos but hit just one of his free throws for 63-62, which would prove to be the last scoring action from the champs. Panathinaikos grabbed another score in the dying seconds to put four points between the teams, although it could have gone either way.

Lasme paced Panathinaikos with 18 points, while Ukic hit 14 and Diamantidis took 9 points and 8 assists.

Stratos Perperoglou scored 12 points in the losing effort and Georgios Printezis netted 10 points.