Greek League Finals, Game 3: May 29, 2008
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Panathinaikos beat 78-67 Olympiacos at OAKA Sports Hall on Thursday to grab a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-five Greek League Finals. After a 42-42 halftime tie, the defending champs came up big in the third quarter with 13 unanswered points and never allowed Olympiacos to get close again. Vassilis Spanoulis scored 15 points and Dimitris Diamantidis filled the stats sheet with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks to lead the winners. Kostas Tsartsaris added 11 points – including 2 triples to kill any Reds' hopes down the stretch – and Stratos Perperoglou contributed 10 points in eight minutes of play. For Olympiacos, Lynn Greer netted 16 points, but only 2 of them came in the second half, while Milos Teodosic recorded 12 points, 4 assists and 2 steals. The two teams will face eachother again at Sunday in Game 4 at Olympiacos's Peace and Friendship Stadium. Elsewhere, Panionios stayed alive at the third-place-series after its 89-82 win over Maroussi at Helinikon Complex. Giannis Gianoulis posted 21 points and 6 rebounds to lead five players in double digits. Andreas Glyniadakis scored 14 points for the guests in defeat. Maroussi remains at helm, though, as they lead 2-1 wins in the series, which moves to Maroussi on Sunday.
At OAKA Sports Hall, the lead exchanged several times between Panathinakos and Olympiacos for two quarters. After a defense-oriented 14-14 first period, the hosts found their fluid offensive in order to get some easy baskets. But Olympiacos used some good ball-movement, too, and after a 0-10 run managed to sail in front 40-42, before halftime ended 42-42. Panathinaikos returned more focused after the break and built a 13-0 streak that proved to be the game’s turning point. Dejan Tomasevic and Qyntel Woods were sent off by the referees after a fight and Panathinaikos found some easy points from the charity line to finish with 27-of-28 free-throw shooting to ice the win.
| Finals Playoffs, best of 5 games |
| Record | Team | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | | 2 | Panathinaikos (1)-Final | 83 | 55 | 78 | June 1 | *- | | 1 | Olympiacos (2)-Final | 79 | 71 | 67 | - | - | | 1 | Panionios (4)-3rd Place | 60 | 65 | 89 | June 1 | *- | | 2 | Maroussi (6)-3rd Place | 67 | 76 | 82 | - | - |
| Finals games | | Game 1 | Panathinaikos vs. Olympiacos | 83-79 | May 24 | | Game 1 | Panionios On Telecoms vs. Maroussi | 60-67 | May 24 | | Game 2 | Olympiakos vs. Panathinaikos | 71-55 | May 27 | | Game 2 | Maroussi vs. Panionios On Telecoms | 76-65 | May 27 | | Game 3 | Panathinaikos vs. Olympiacos | 78-67 | May 29 | | Game 3 | Panionios On Telecoms vs. Maroussi | 89-82 | May 29 | | Game 4 | Olympiakos vs. Panathinaikos | - | June 1 | | Game 4 | Maroussi vs. Panionios On Telecoms | - | June 1 | | Game 5 | Panathinaikos vs. Olympiacos | - | *- | | Game 5 | Panionios On Telecoms vs. Maroussi | - | *- |
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Stelios Kyriakoglou, Athens
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