The sixth century derby of the season took the breath away on Thursday night (14/3). The Stadium of Peace and Friendship was packed, Olympiacos defeated Panathinaikos 71-65, caught them in the rankings and overtook them, as they had also beaten them in the first round match at OAKA. The Piraeus thus entered a quadruple track, in which they will definitely be if they do 5/5 until the finale of the EuroLeague regular season.
The red and whites went up to 18-11 (11-4 at home and 7-7 away), who reached six consecutive victories and are going for home advantage in the playoffs. Something that will constitute a small basketball miracle, after the first months in which Olympiacos showed that it will fight for the best position in the top ten. MVP the incredible Moses Wright who destroyed the competition in the racket, with an epic performance in the scoring part.
Panathinaikos fell to 18-11 (12-3 at home and 7-7 away), with Ergin Ataman realizing that the matches against Red Star (away) and Barcelona (in) are real finals for his team. if he wants to close the regular season in the top four. Shocking performance, yet another, from Dino Mitoglou who set a career record in rebounding, followed by Kendrick Nunn on a night when Kostas Sloukas and Matias Lessor did not dominate.
Or MVP
What a game Moses Wright had… The American finished with 19 points on 9/9 2-point and 1/3 shooting, all in just under 16 minutes. He blew away the competition, with an epic performance that vindicates the people who picked him a few months ago. Amazing finisher, in an organization that easily put him in its philosophy.
The weak link
Kostas Slukas and Marius Grigonis did not give Panathinaikos what it needed, creation and scoring, Kendrick Nunn’s seven mistakes cannot go unnoticed, at least the American scored and was economical.
The stats that stood out
Olympiacos, who had only one assist, closed the first period with 3/13 shots. Panathinaikos had 15 rebounds, five offensive. Piraeus put up 26 points in the second half, the points from the opponent’s mistakes were 13-2 and the shots were 27-28. All this with the rebounds double in favor of the greens (22-11) who committed seven errors in the third quarter, in which they scored just nine points. At the end of the night, Olympiacos had won with 6/23 three-pointers, but also with only seven mistakes. What Kendrick Nunn had. Ataman was 37.5% on the 2-pointer (12/32), had nine assists, saw the points from the opponent’s mistakes to be 24-2.
The race
Olympiacos opened the match with Walkup, Kanan, Papanikolaou, Peters, Fall, Panathinaikos with Grant, Nunn, Grigonis, Mitoglou, Balcherovski. After three minutes the score was 2-2, with just one basket in the five-on-five, Kanan hit a three-pointer to make it 7-9 in the seventh minute and productivity remained low, with poor decisions on both sides. However, the greens were more determined and with a good run they closed the period at +10, while Bartzokas was trying to manage the minutes of his injuries in the position of point guard.
The hosts used at the beginning of the second period the energy of McKissick – Wright, Ataman called a timeout at 14-19 after nailing the second in the surprise, but the young center was unstoppable. He also made a goal-foul for 18-19, until Lessor came forward, wore him down and… imitated him for a new six-point lead (20-26 at 16′). But again, Olympiacos showed character, with Papanikolaou leading until 33-33 at halftime, which was fair for both teams.
The Piraeus opened the second half with a 6-0 and led by Peters-Faul they took a small lead, with Papanikolaou writing with a three-pointer from an extra pass to make it 45-35, but wear and tear played its role so that Panathinaikos stand up at a very critical point in the match. The 48-42 at the end of the third period kept the interest high, with both coaches understanding that there was no significant room for a big rotation.
Nunn opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer for 48-45, soon after he nailed it for 48-47 and the derby turned into a thriller for strong nerves. At 6:45 before the final, the referees gave possession to Olympiakos with the score at 54-49, but again Panathinaikos remained standing. It was reduced to three (59-56 at 36′) with Nan, it was reduced to two with Mitoglou (61-59), while the Piraeus were relying on the finishes of Wright who was invincible, unstoppable near the basket.
With 1:14 left in the final, the American had 0/2 shots, Nunn found an iron on a three-pointer and at 55.2% Williams-Goss went to the line for shots. He put them in for 65-59 and locked the result, as in the remaining time Panathinaikos could not claim the reversal.
THE REFEREES: Radovic, Peruga, Nikolic
THE DECADES: 7-17, 33-33, 48-42, 71-65
OLYMPIAKOS (Bartzokas): Walkup 4 (1/3 2-pointers, 0/3 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals), Williams-Goss 5 (1/5 2-pointers, 1/1 3-pointer, 2/2 shots), Wright 19 (9/9 2-pointers, 3 rebounds), Kanan 3 (1/8 3-pointers), Mitrou-Long, Fal 5 (2/2 2-pointers, 1/4 shots, 4 rebounds, 2 assists), Papanikolaou 9 (2/4 2 points, 3/3 shots, 2 rebounds), Brazdeikis 3 (1), Peters 11 (3/4 2 points, 1/4 3 points, 2/2 shots, 5 rebounds), Petrusev 4 (1/5 2 points), McKissick 6 (3/6 two points)
PANATHINAIKOS (Ataman): Balcherovski 2, Slukas 7 (1/4 2-pointers, 1/3 3-pointers, 2/2 shots, 4 rebounds, 3 assists), Papapetrou 2, Grant 8 (2/5 2-pointers, 0/2 3-pointers, 4 /4 shots, 4 rebounds), Nunn 17 (2/6 2-pointers, 4/5 3-pointers, 2 assists, 7 turnovers), Lessor 11 (4/9 2-pointers, 3/5 shots, 6 rebounds), Grigonis 7 (2/ 6 3-pointers), Hernangomet, Mitoglou 11 (2/3 2-pointers, 2/5 3-pointers, 1/2 shots, 16 rebounds)
Olympiacos team stats: 20/36 2-pointers, 6/23 3-pointers, 13/20 shots, 29 rebounds (23 defensive – 6 offensive), 13 assists, 11 steals, 3 blocks, 7 errors, 21 fouls
Panathinaikos team statistics: 12/32 two-pointers, 9/22 three-pointers, 14/18 shots, 40 rebounds (31 defensive – 9 offensive), 9 assists, 5 steals, 3 blocks, 18 errors, 18 fouls
The next matches of the two teams: In the 30th matchday, Olympiacos will play in Istanbul against Anadolu Efes (19/3 at 19:30), while Panathinaikos will face Red Star in Belgrade (20/3 at 21:00).
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