By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Olympiacos was seeking revenge for the lost Greek Cup final and got it, beating eternal rival Panathinaikos for the 11th straight time in the EuroLeague.
The Reds beat the Greens 86-80 and, with a 19-10 record, are third in the EuroLeague standings, while the losing side dropped to 16-14 and remains in the 10th spot.
Tyler Dorsey scored 13 points and was the first among equals, as four more Olympiacos players scored in double digits, with Nikola Milutinov having 12 points.
Kendrick Nunn scored 20 points for the other side, which were not enough.
With Mathias Lessort still out, and also Olympiacos missing Sasha Vezenkov, Thomas Walkup, and Monte Morris, everyone expected a dog fight, and the defense of Olympiacos was exactly that in the first half.
Olympiacos led by seven after the first period (20-13) and pushed their advantage to 17 points (36-19). However, Panathinaikos reacted and made it an 11-point game (40-29) at halftime with a 10-4 run, which extended to 18-6 (42-37) at the start of the third period.
The Greens continued the push, a three-pointer by Fournier pushed the lead back to 10 (49-39), and Panathinaikos answer was back-to-back threes by Juancho Hernangomez and Dinos Mitoglou, making it a four-point game (49-45). With the first made shot of Nigel Hayes-Davis in the game, the guests trimmed the lead to two (54-52), and Olympiacos entered the last quarter with the same advantage (58-56).
Nunn gave the lead to Panathinaikos (59-58) with the first made shot of the fourth period. Cory Joseph answered back (61-59) for Olympiacos, starting a 9-0 run (67-61).
Olympiacos got a nine-point advantage again (75-66) with four and a half minutes left after a three-pointer by Dorsey and a dunk by Tyson Ward. Τhat proved to be enough, as Panathinaikos couldn’t get closer than four points until the final buzzer.