Bitter losses for Greens and Reds in Game 3
Both Greek teams in the Euroleague are on the brink of crashing out from the playoffs, as on Tuesday they suffered two-point defeats that put their opponents 2-1 up in the best-of-five series that lead to the Final Four.
Maccabi Tel Aviv is now within one win from eliminating Panathinaikos, after a contentious 85-83 win in Game 3.
Panathinaikos was second-best to Maccabi for the first three quarters of the game in Belgrade, but could have still snatched the win in the end.
Maccabi was on top throughout the game and stretched its lead to 18 points (57-39). However a series of triples by the Greens cut their distance to bring them level just before the end (83-83), when a controversial referee decision had the hosts get a second chance for a final shot, that they made to win the game.
Panathinaikos has actually submitted a formal objection about that decision, to be examined on Wednesday.
Kendrick Nunn made 25 points and Ioannis Papapetrou 17, while Kostas Sloukas did not score a single point having registered a career record of 29 points in Game 2.
Game 4 is on Thursday, once again in Belgrade that Maccabi uses for its home games.
Olympiakos came within a whisker of winning Game 3 against Barcelona visitors in Piraeus, but the visitors won in overtime 82-80 thanks to two Jabari Parker free throws half a second from the end.
The game at the Peace and Friendship Stadium was very tight, and even when the Reds pulled away by eight (37-29), Barcelona bounced back with distance shots to edge ahead (43-40).
The Greek champion felt it had won the game after it turned a 63-62 deficit into a 69-63 lead, but Barcelona sent the game to overtime with a 71-71 regulation result.
In the extra five minutes it was all square till five tenths of a second on the clock, when Parker earned three free throws from Filip Petrusev, and made two of them to give Barcelona a precious road win and a 2-1 advantage in the series, with Game 4 in Piraeus on Thursday.
Pacing the Reds on the night was Petrusev with 18 points, followed by Moses Wright with 16.
