By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Two different games, but same result for the two Greek powerhouses that began their semifinals obligations with victories over their opponents.
Thanks to a rich and diverse output by Nick Calathes (21 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds) Panathinaikos defeated Aris 85 – 79. The game was more or less decided in the last minutes of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth, when Calathes and Pappas scored consecutive points for the Greens to give their team a lead of fifteen points, 78 – 63. It took some time for Aris (Jerel McNeal 22 points, 10 rebounds) to react so the team from Thessaloniki just settled to reducing the deficit to five points, 19 seconds before the end of the game.
Olympiacos delivered nothing less than a blowout against AEK, winning the match 93 – 58. By putting extreme pressure on their opponents, during the second quarter coach Sfairopoulos’ players made many stops on the defensive end and struck swiftly in transition to finish the first half 52 – 33. Some signs of life appeared in AEK in the next period when the guests made it 59 – 47, but with an incredible 20-2 partial score, Olympiacos cruised to victory. Vassilis Spanoulis had 15 points and 6 assists for the Red, while Dimitris Mavroeidis was the best player of AEK with 15 points.