Greek League Finals, Game 5: June 4, 2008
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Panathinaikos won its sixth straight Greek championship Wednesday by downing archrival Olympiacos 90-76 in do-or-die Game 5 of their playoff final series at home in OAKA Sports Hall. Panathinaikos claimed a 3-2 series victory as each team won all its home games. It was the third year in a row that the Greens beat the Reds in the finals, winning their 10 Greek League crown in the last 11 years and 29th overall. Mike Batiste and Sarunas Jasikevicus scored 18 points apiece to lead head coach Zeljko Obradovic’s men. Vassilis Spanoulis added 15 points and Kostas Tsartsaris 12 for the winning side, while Dimitris Diamantidis proved once again to be Panathinaikos’s go-to-guy, bagging 13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 assists and 1 block including two deciding triples down the stretch. Lynn Greer paced the Reds attack with 19 points, Qyntel Woods scored 18, Rod Blakney 13 and Ioannis Bouroussis recorded 11 points and 12 rebounds. Elsewhere, Panionios sealed its ticket to the Euroleague next season by beating 88-74 Maroussi at Hellinikon Complex to complete a huge come-back from 0-2 down in the series. Giannis Kalampokis and Ivan Zoroski posted 16 points apiece for Panionios, whereas Branko Milisavljevic scored as many for the guests in a losing effort.
At the hot and enthusiastic sold-out OAKA Sports Hall, Panathinaikos started the game with 10 unanswered points thanks to its superb ball-movement. Woods came in off the bench to score consecutive points and allow Olympiacos come as close as 17-14. The hosts remained in charge, however, in order to build a 33-23 difference behind 2 three-pointers in the row by Jasikevicius. Olympiacos managed to react again; Woods was unstoppable in the open court and when Greer fired in a jumper, the Reds were ahead 33-34 for the first – but as it turned out also the last – time. Stratos Perperoglou sent the crowd to get crazy with an off-balance triple from midcourt at the halftime buzzer to make it 39-34. Panathinaikos continued its rally after the break to complete a 12-0 deciding run at 45-34. Olympiacos was not ready to surrender yet; three-pointers coming from Greer cut it to 45-44, but again the hosts found energy from their fans in order to sail to a huge 20-6 run for a 65-50 deficit after 30 minutes. The final period started with some incredible Blackney’s heroics that helped the Reds cut it to 67-61. Blackney scored 11 points of his own in three minutes, but, that was Olympiacos’s last charge. Six Panathinakos triples followed to settle the game and seal another Green title.
| Finals Playoffs, best of 5 games |
| Record | Team | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | | 3 | Panathinaikos (1)-Final | 83 | 55 | 78 | 59 | 90 | | 2 | Olympiacos (2)-Final | 79 | 71 | 67 | 57 | 76 | | 3 | Panionios (4)-3rd Place | 60 | 65 | 89 | 96 | 88 | | 2 | Maroussi (6)-3rd Place | 67 | 76 | 82 | 84 | 74 | | Greek League Champion 2007-08: Panathinaikos Athens |
| Finals games | | Game 1 | Panathinaikos vs. Olympiacos | 83-79 | May 24 | | Game 1 | Panionios On Telecoms vs. Maroussi | 60-67 | May 24 | | Game 2 | Olympiacos 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 | Olympiacos vs. Panathinaikos | 59-57 | June 1 | | Game 4 | Maroussi vs. Panionios On Telecoms | 84-96 | June 1 | | Game 5 | Panathinaikos vs. Olympiacos | 90-76 | June 4 | | Game 5 | Panionios On Telecoms vs. Maroussi | 88-74 | June 4 |
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Stelios Kyriakoglou, Athens
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