Greens bounce back to add the Greek title to the European crown
Panathinaikos wins Game 5 and clinches the Basket League having trailed 2-0
Panathinaikos AKTOR has returned after three years to the throne of Greek basketball, adding the Basket League title to its Euroleague crown this season, by beating Olympiakos in the final game of the playoffs’ championship series on Friday.
The Greens fought hard to win 87-82 in a very tight game, just like Game 4, but their home win brought a memorable final series to a 3-2 result in their favor, wresting the title away from Olympiakos that had won it in 2022 and 2023.
The Reds actually began on top with 11-point leads (13-2 and 15-4), but the Greens bounced back, led for the first time at 34-33 and looked good for this precious win for the rest of the game.
Olympiakos refused to relinquish its title until the very end, cutting its nine-point deficit (75-66) to just one point (81-80), but Panathinaikos braved that comeback to hold on to dear victory.
The finish of the game was followed by wild celebrations, as Panathinaikos has not only won its first league title since 2021, but did so coming back from 2-0 in the best-of-five series.
“We believed, we are a magic team,” said coach Ergin Ataman. “In the Euroleague we were 2-1 down [against Maccabi] but came back to win 3-2. Against Olympiakos we were 2-0 down but, just when nobody else believed we would make it, we did it, because we believed,” he added.
Panathinaikos captain Kostas Sloukas, who crossed the Greek sports’ divide to join the Greens from the Reds last summer, was instrumental to the new champions’ triumph on Friday, scoring 29 points. He was followed by Jerian Grant with 15 points and Kendrick Nunn with 13, who actually lost two teeth trying for the best. Pacing Olympiakos were Alec Peters with 21 points and Kostas Papanikolaou with 18.
All in all, this final series must have been the best thing in global basketball this season outside the NBA.
