Olympiakos sweeps the Greens to win the Basket League title after six years
Olympiakos has won its first Basket League title in six years and completed its first league-and-cup double since 1997, after sweeping Panathinaikos in the play-off finals with a 3-0 score. All three wins for the Reds came within six days.
Having topped the table after the regular season, Olympiakos had the absolute advantage in the play-offs as well as the tag of the favorite.
In Game 1 Panathinaikos was conspicuously absent from the first quarter with Olympiakos running riot and winning comfortably 74-61 last Saturday at the Peace and Friendship Stadium.
Game 2 temporarily appeared to be quite different, with Panathinaikos leading at home by half-time, before crumbling in the second half to a determined Olympiakos. The Reds fought off the Greens’ late comeback effort to win 78-72 at the Olympic Sports Hall on Tuesday.
Then in Game 3 on Friday, back at the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus, Olympiakos was dominant after the first 13 minutes, with Panathinaikos falling apart once again to surrender easily to its host. The final 93-74 score rather flattered the visitors.
The Reds celebrated their return to the throne in front of some 12,000 fans of theirs in a wonderful atmosphere.
Therefore Olympiakos has added the league title to the Cup which it had also won beating Panathinaikos in the final, in the first season after its return from the A2 division. As for Panathinaikos, it is only left with the Super Cup title it won at the start of the season.
