Olympiacos Piraeus struck first in the Greek League finals with an 84-89 victory over freshly crowned Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens. The Reds took over with a big second-quarter run and never trailed in the second half. Thomas Walkup led six Olympiacos scorers in double figures with 17 points and 5 assists. Nigel Williams-Goss added 16 points and Nikola Milutinov dominated the paint with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks. Kostas Papanikolaou and Shaq McKissic contributed 11 points each and Filip Petrusev 10. Kendrick Nunn scored 21 to lead the Greens, Kostas Sloukas netted 16 with 5 assists and Mathias Lessort posted 14 points and 7 rebounds in defeat.
Olympiacos wins opening game in Greek finals
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The game had early swings as Milutinov’s three-point play punctuated a 9-18 start for the Reds. Back-to-back threes by Sloukas triggered a response as Panathinaikos rallied to within 17-19 after 10 minutes and Nunn gave the Greens the lead with a triple to open the second quarter. Petrusev netted 6 points in a 0-11 Olympiacos run that made 31-40 and a Milutinov slam pushed the margin to double figures. The margin stood at 37-46 at the break.
Juancho Hernangomez scored 5 straight points in the third quarter to bring Panathinaikos within 56-59, but Olympiacos responded quickly and Williams-Goss free throws at the end of the quarter left the visitors up 56-66. Threes by Walkup and Kostas Papanikolaou made it 57-72. Nunn heated up to breathe new life into the game and Sloukas got Panathinaikos within 3 in the closing seconds, but free throws by Walkup sealed the win for Olympiacos.
Lithuania: Zalgiris falls to Rytas in OT in Game 1
Rytas Vilnius upset Zalgiris Kaunas 88-89 after overtime in the opening game of the Lithuanian League finals at Zalgirio Arena in Kaunas. Gytis Radzevicius made the go-ahead three for Rytas with 2 minutes left and – though Lukas Lekavicius and Dovydas Giedraitis twice brought the hosts within 1 – Zalgiris ran out of time to catch up. Radzevicius led five Rytas scorers in double figures with 19 points, Justin Gorham tallied 15 points and grabbed 9 rebounds and R.J. Cole also scored 15 to for the winners. Lekavicius paced Zalgiris with 21 points, Giedraitis added 16 and Laurynas Birutis 14. Rytas hosts Game 2 of the best-of-three series on Friday.