Party for one as Olympiakos thrashes Panathinaikos

By George Georgakopoulos

Olympiakos turned Game 2 of the A1 final series into a party for one, thrashing Panathinaikos 89-64 on Monday at the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus to level the score at 1-1. On the strength of this performance Olympiakos can break the Greens’ home advantage in Game 3 on Thursday.

The match was so one-sided that it started with the Reds taking a major advantage from the outset (8-0), leading 29-12 after the first period and strolling to a 48-29 score at half-time.

Panathinaikos, who missed injured James Gist badly, tried to reduce the arrears at the start of the third period with a partial 7-0 score for 48-36, but Olympiakos responded with eight unanswered points to seal victory from such an early point. The rest of the game was merely academical.

The Reds had an amazing 52 percent rate in three-pointers, making 13 out of 25 on the night, to shatter the best defense in Greece.

Giorgos Printezis was the top scorer for Olympiakos with 18 points, while Loukas Mavrokefalidis notched up 19 for Panathinaikos.

This was the second biggest margin of victory for Olympiakos over its Eternal Rival. “Victory margins in the play-offs have no bearing on the series, except for the psychological factor,” stressed Olympiakos coach Giorgos Bartzokas after the game.

In the battle for third PAOK leads Panionios 2-0 in the best-of-five series after its 81-63 home win on Monday.