Panathinaikos evens title series against Olympiacos

The clash of the Greek titans continued Thursday evening as Panathinaikos Athens hosted Olympiacos Piraeus in the finals series. The Athens club was at home after a defeat on the road in Game 1. Panathinaikos secured an 84-80 win and showed how close this series will be and that home advantage could be vital.

With this being a best of five series, the task remains for Panathinaikos. The club must defeat Olympiacos in Piraeus to lift the title. As for the defending two-time consecutive champs, they can win their next two home games and drop Game 4 to still win a three peat.

In this contest, the home team built the win on excellent shooting. The Greens drained 53.3 percent of their efforts from beyond the arc, allowing plenty of triple points to be registered. Olympiacos also helped with sloppy discipline, which handed 25 personal fouls to their opponents.

However, it was Olympiacos that tool the early lead with a 17-20 first quarter, but the home team soon started clicking in the second period. A 24-19 second frame made it 41-39 through the long break. Panathinaikos maintained the momentum in the third act, using an 18-14 streak to extend to 59-54 through thirty minutes. Olympiacos rallied in a compelling fourth quarter, but Panathinaikos held on to even the series.

Nikos Pappas dropped 16 points from the bench to pace the win, while Mike James added 14 points and Ioannis Bourousis managed 12 points. Nick Calathes scored 8 points and claimed 10 rebounds.

Erick Green topped Olympiacos with a game-high 21 points, followed by Georgios Printezis with 15 points.