Olympiacos defeated Panatninaikos to take a 0-2 lead in the Greek League finals. Zalgiris Kaunas is now in a must-win situation in the Lithuanian League finals.
Olympiacos gets closer to Greek League title!
Article
1 Min read
Greece: Olympiacos wins again
Olympiacos Piraeus got within one victory of winning its third consecutive Greek League title by downing reigning Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens 92-86 in Game 2 of their best-of-five series at the Peace and Friendship Stadium. Olympiacos has a 0-2 lead and Panathinaikos hosts Game 3 on Monday. Nigel Williams-Goss paced the winners with 19 points. Nikola Milutinov added 17, Isaiah Canaan had 16, Alec Peters 15 and Kostas Papanikolaou 11 for Olympiacos. Mathias Lessort led Panathinaikos with 21 points. Kendrick Nunn added 13, Kostas Sloukas 12, Juancho Hernangomez 11 and Jerian Grant 10.
Sloukas and Hernangomez each struck from downtown to give Panathinaikos an early 2-8 lead. They got help from Ioannis Papapetrou and Lessort to boost the Greens' margin to 17-24. Williams-Goss singlehandedly brought Olympiacos within 21-24 at the end of the first quarter. A 0-87 run that Nunn capped with a layup restored a 28-36 Panathinaikos margin. Williams-Goss, Shaquielle McKissic and Peters fueled a 10-0 run that briefly put Olympiacos ahead, 38-36, before Marius Grigonis's three-pointer fixed the halftime score at 38-39.
Olympiacos found a go-to guy in Canaan right after the break, as he scored all points in a 9-0 run that put the Reds ahead for good, 50-43. Nunn tried to change things for Panathinaikos but Papanikolaou and Thomas Walkup each struck from beyond the arc to boost the hosts' lead to 60-46. Lessort and Grant brought Panathinaikos a bit closer, 62-55, after 30 minutes. Filip Petrusev dunked to boost his team's margin to 74-62 with over 6 minutes remaining. Grigonis and Lessort stepped up in crunch time and Hernangomez gave the Greens hope, 79-74. Canaan and Williams-Goss each buried a three-pointer to seal the outcome down the stretch.
Lithuania: Zalgiris in make-or-break situation
Rytas Vilnius took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five Lithuanian League finals by downing Zalgiris Kaunas 104-94 in overtime in Game 2 of their series. Zalgiris is now in a do-or-die situation and hosts Game 3 on Monday. Margiris Normantas paced the winners with 26 points. Martynas Echodas added 18 for Rytas. Laurynas Birutis led Zalgiris with 24 points on 8 of 9 two-pointers and 8 of 9 free throws. Edgaras Ulanovas added 18 points while Lukas Lekavicius had 17 for Zalgiris.
The guests used a 0-10 run highlight by Tomas Dimsa's three-pointer to get an early 7-17 lead. He got help from Lekavicius and Arnas Butkevicius to boost Zalgiris's lead to 19-30 after 10 minutes. Rytas got within 36-37 late in the first half but Lekavicius and Demetre Rivers found answers from downtown to restore a 44-50 Zalgiris lead at the break. Ulanovas and Birutis gave Zalgiris its biggest lead, 50-62, late in the third quarter but Rytas used a 19-3 run to take the laad, 69-65. The game turned into a thriller went Echodas tied it at 87-87 but none of the teams scored in the final minute of regulation. Once in overtime, Rytas build a 98-91 margin and kept full control of the game until the final buzzer.