The championship title of the Basket League will be decided at the OAKA stadium on June 14th at 21:15, following Panathinaikos AKTOR’s significant break at SEF, which leveled the finals series to 2-2.
Panathinaikos prevailed over Olympiacos with a score of 88-85, capitalizing on an impressive second half and staging a major comeback.
Kendrick Nunn stood out with a remarkable 25-point performance. Olympiacos entered the game with the same starting five as the previous three finals: Wacap, Caanan, Papanikolaou, Peters, and Milutinov.
Panathinaikos started the match with Grant, Nunn, Papapetrou, Mitoglou, and Lessort.
Olympiacos took an early 5-0 lead with a three-pointer from Wacap and a two-pointer from Papanikolaou, prompting Ergin Ataman to call a timeout just 1:24 after the jump ball.
Panathinaikos tightened their defense, with Papapetrou and Nunn hitting two accurate three-pointers. Along with baskets from Mitoglou and Lessort in the paint, they overtook the score at 9-10.
Kostas Papanikolaou, the captain, rescued his team from this challenging position with a three-pointer (12-10), reaching 7 points.
After Olympiacos led 16-14, Sloukas replaced Grant and immediately scored a three-pointer, giving Panathinaikos the lead again (16-17). Olympiacos focused on the paint, with the MVP of the first three finals from their side, Nikola Milutinov, scoring four points in a 6-0 run (Williams-Goss also scored) for a 22-17 lead at the end of the first period.
Bartzokas started the second period with Larentzakis and Maccisek instead of Papanikolaou and Caanan, while Petrousef entered for Milutinov 30 seconds from the start.
Both teams continued to battle fiercely in the second period. Williams-Goss initially starred for Olympiacos, scoring consecutive points, but three-pointers from Sloukas and Hernangomez kept Panathinaikos within striking distance (30-27). However, Petrousef, playing in position “5,” scored 5 of the 9 points for Olympiacos in a 9-2 run, leading to a +10 advantage (39-29) for the first time in the match.