The basketball team of Olympiacos defeated Panathinaikos with a score of 75-51 in the final of the Greek Super Cup on Rhodes, securing their first trophy of the season.
In the first half on Rhodes, we witnessed a game of cat and mouse. All the threats made by Panathinaikos officials, along with coach Ergin Ataman, proved to be in vain because the “Greens” from Athens looked terrible in the first 20 minutes. Olympiacos won the first quarter 16-4 and then held Panathinaikos to single digits in the second quarter, finishing with a 21-7 lead, making it a total of +26 before halftime. To illustrate the kind of game Ataman’s team had, they shot 3/25 from the field (0/13 from beyond the arc).
In the second half, the Athenians managed to win the third quarter, but that was all they could achieve. At one point in the fourth quarter, the team from Piraeus had a lead of 30 points, and the cheers of the red-and-white supporters could be heard from the stands. Bartzokas’ team calmly brought this final to a close, securing their first trophy of the season and reaffirming their status as the best team in Greece.
The top scorer for Piraeus was Giannoulis Larentzakis with 20 points, followed by Isaiah Canaan with 12 and Nikola Milutinov with 10 points. For Panathinaikos, Juancho Hernangomez scored 15 points, while Jerami Grant contributed 14.
Olympiacos dominates in defense
Neither team had a brilliant offensive start to the game, but Georgios Bartzokas’ team found solutions, primarily through Nikola Milutinov in the paint. On the other hand, the Serbian center completely neutralized Mathias Lessort, and the Panathinaikos offense seemed hopeless, evident from their four points scored in the first quarter.
Olympiacos continued its excellent defense into the second quarter. Kostas Sloukas rarely managed to create an advantage with his drives, while Kyle Guy and Luca Vildoza missed their shots consistently. The “Greens” only managed to score their first points in the second quarter at 2:55 remaining when Sloukas made free throws. On the other hand, the red-and-white team played well on the offensive end, and Giannoulis Larentzakis punished Ataman’s team from beyond the 6.75-meter line. This led to a score of 37:11 after the first 20 minutes.
Panathinaikos trailing by 30 points
It wasn’t until the third quarter that Panathinaikos found some rhythm in their offense. Juancho Hernangomez and Lessort played with more determination, allowing the Athenians to win the third quarter with a score of 24:19.
However, Olympiacos didn’t let up in the final 10 minutes, increasing their lead to a maximum of +30 with an 11:3 run. Nevertheless, Ataman’s team managed to slightly mitigate the defeat towards the end but couldn’t avoid a significant embarrassment on Rhodes.