Panathinaikos reaches Euroleague final, against Real that beat Olympiakos
Panathinaikos has advanced to the final of the Euroleague, after comprehensively defeating Fenerbahce in the first semifinal on Friday, but its opponent will not be Olympiakos. The Reds lost to a superior Real Madrid that will defend its crown on Sunday in Berlin against the Greens.
Despite the tension off the court between Panathinaikos and Fenerbahce fans before the start of play, with many Turks arrested for attacking the Greeks, on the court the Greens were very concentrated and won 73-57 in the end.
The six-time champions led from start to finish, launching themselves forward through a 12-0 score in the first five minutes, and even when Fener cut the distance to within one point (51-50), the resilience of the Panathinaikos players combined with their impressive defense left no margin for hope to the Turkish team.
The Greens scored a partial 22-7 to finish the game in triumphant fashion, easily earning the ticket to Sunday’s final.
Mathias Lessort paced Panathinaikos with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Kendrick Nunn followed with 14 points and Jerian Grant added another 13.
While Panathinaikos conceded 57 points throughout the first semi, Olympiakos conceded 56 just in the first half, to a Real Madrid that eventually won 87-76.
The holders were unstoppable in the first half, during which Olympiakos was a shadow of its usual self. The distance stretched to 25 points (54-29) with the first half ending 56-37.
The Reds tried to come back in the second half, they cut their deficit to eight points (77-69), but Real was clearly superior and deserved won comfortably.
Olympiakos particularly had a scoring problem in its front line, with several key players having a poor game, letting down the Reds’ fans who outnumbered and outscreamed all others at the Uber Arena.
Alec Peters made 23 points for Olympiakos, Shaquielle McKissic scored 17 and Nigel Williams-Goss added 15.
