Panathinaikos wins Greek title
Panathinaikos Athens is the new champion of the Greek top flight after overcoming arch rival Olympiacos Piraeus in the finals series.
The victory snapped a two-year period without the title, two years that have seen Olympiacos win the league. Panathinaikos is now back atop Greek hoops and collects a record-extending 35th A1 crown. Impressively, The Greens got the job done with a 51-66 road win in the deciding game of the series.
This win was impressive considering the series had been going to home form until Game 5.
Panathinaikos controlled long parts of the game, showing more defensive guile and making more openings in attack. The first quarter was close, but the visitors took the lead for good in the early stages of the second quarter. Indeed, The Greens led by as much as 21 points as Olympiacos struggled to live with the pace.
KC Rivers, Ioannis Bourousis, Nic Calathes, and Mike James ran the show for Panathinaikos as the team confounded form and many analysts who thought Olympiacos would three-peat.
One other stain on Olympiacos, beyond the poor home display, was the partisan fans who disrupted the game by entering the court. Obviously sensing the team had crumbled, the fans attempted to spoil the Panathinaikos party.
Mike James claimed the MVP with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, while he also added 6 assists.