Triumph Thursday for Greens and Reds in Euroleague
Thursday was a glorious night for the Greeks in Europe, with Olympiakos embarrassing Barcelona with a 34-point triumph and Panathinaikos restoring its home advantage with a brave victory away over Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Olympiakos swept Barcelona 92-58 at home to tie their Euroleague quarterfinal series 2-2 and take it to a fifth game in Spain next week.
After a balanced first quarter, when Barcelona led 23-21, Olympiakos offered its fans a breathtaking performance at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, including scoring 53 points in the first half for the first time in the club’s Euroleague playoff history.
Soon Barcelona gave up trying to match its host and the Reds ran away with the game with great ease, led by Shaquielle McKissic with 21 points and Moustapha Fall with 12.
Game 5 will take place in Barcelona next Wednesday.
Panathinaikos not only stayed alive in the series with Maccabi, winning 95-88 in Belgrade, but has also moved the tie back home for the decisive game.
The Greens proved more decisive when it really mattered, as – unlike on Tuesday – Kostas Sloukas was prolific and influential, and after a fairly even first 30 minutes they responded to an 82-75 lead by Maccabi to a partial 20-6 in the last six minutes for a precious road win.
Kendrick Nunn made 27 points, Sloukas added 20 and Mathias Lessort notched up 17.
The Greens will host Maccabi for Game 5 on Wednesday in Athens.
