Panathinaikos beat their arch rivals Olympiacos in Game 3 of the Greek League finals by a score of 83:76. The series goes back to Piraeus.
Panathinaikos started the game strongly, led by Jerian Grant, and quickly gained an early 11:6 lead. On the other side, Nikola Milutinov was the only one providing adequate resistance for Olympiacos, which was only enough for them to head into the first break trailing by five points at 23:18.
At the start of the second quarter, Kendrick Nunn shone, giving the home team their first double-digit lead of the game. It seemed at one point that the red-and-whites from Piraeus were in danger of a collapse, but with a 10:3 run, they managed to cut the deficit to single digits before halftime, making it 43:34.
The third period was marked by significantly improved play from Olympiacos, who imposed their tempo from the start and effectively reduced the deficit to just two points heading into the final 10 minutes of play at the OAKA Arena. The excellent Milutinov even managed to give his team the lead at one point in the fourth quarter (73:72), but the last five minutes of the game completely belonged to Panathinaikos. With a 9:0 run, Ergin Ataman’s team “broke” their opponent and secured an important win.
The top scorer for the home team was Kendrick Nunn with 21 points, while Nikola Milutinov stood out for Olympiacos with 17 points.
Panathinaikos reduced the series deficit to 2-1. The next game will be played in Piraeus, with the date and time to be announced later.