Sloukas’ buzzer beater and Greens’ first road win
In a rare occasion for Greek teams in the Euroleague these days, both Olympiakos and Panathinaikos recorded wins this week, downing Anadolu Efes and Villeurbanne respectively.
Kostas Sloukas gave Olympiakos a memorable victory over its Turkish visitor on Thursday in Piraeus with a buzzer-beating triple at the end of overtime in an ultra tight match.
The final 87-85 score reflects a really tough challenge for Olympiakos that risked suffering a second straight loss at home. Yet this time it managed to respond to the strong showing of improved Efes, especially in overtime, and snatch victory with Sloukas’ shot right at the end.
Those were the final three of Sloukas’ 23 points on the night, pacing the Reds along with Tyler Dorsey with 19, in Olympiakos’ 14th win in 23 games.
Panathinaikos has finally scored that elusive road win, defeating Villeurbanne 76-63 in France on Friday thanks to its defense.
This was a game where the Greeks led from start to finish, but their lead fluctuated wildly, from two to 16 points. Just as the French cut the distance to 59-57, the Greek champion managed to pull away again and win the game despite the injury to Nemanja Nedovic toward the end.
Okaro White led the scoring with 19 for the winners. The 18 points Nedovic got to score sufficed to make him the Greens’ second scorer, with Giorgos Papagiannis adding another 15.
That was only the sixth win Panathinaikos has attained in 23 matches.
