Panathinaikos BC AKTOR were defeated 82–87 by Olympiacos at the Telekom Center Athens, in a game for the 19th round of the EuroLeague regular season. Kendrick Nunn was the leading scorer for the Greens with 32 points.

Olympiacos started the game better and took a 12–2 lead in the 3rd minute, extending it to 22–5 in the 5th minute. At the 8th minute, the visitors were ahead 26–9, before closing the first quarter with the score at 28–13.

The Greens cut the deficit to 28–19 in the 11th minute and came closer at 31–25 in the 14th. One minute later Olympiacos made it 34–25, but Panathinaikos BC AKTOR responded to make it 34–29 in the 16th minute. The first half ended with the two teams tied at 43–43, while in the 22nd minute the Greens took the lead at 46–43.

The visitors regained the lead at 50–48 in the 24th minute, while in the 26th minute Panathinaikos BC AKTOR went ahead 53–50. At the 28th minute, Olympiacos took control again with 57–53, the Greens tied the game at 59–59 in the 29th, and the third quarter ended at 61–61.

The Reds moved ahead 67–61 in the 31st minute and extended their lead to 70–63 in the 33rd, before the Greens tied it again at 70–70 one minute later. In the 35th minute, Olympiacos went in front 74–70 and maintained the advantage until the final buzzer, sealing the win with the final score 87–82.

Quarters: 13–28, 43–43, 61–61, 82–87.

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR (Ataman): Shorts 2, Kalaitzakis, Osman 13, Holmes, Sloukas 5, Rogkavopoulos 10 (2), Grant 7 (2), Nunn 32 (3), Faried 9, Hernangomez, Mitoglou, Yurtseven 4.
Olympiacos BC (Bartzokas): Walkup 3, Ntilikina (3), Larentzakis, Morris 8, Vezenkov 24 (4), Papanikolaou 8 (2), Dorsey 21 (3), Peters, Milutinov 10, Antetokounmpo, Hall 8, Fournier 2.

Ataman: “We made the same mistakes and lost”

Ergin Ataman said at the Press Conference following the home game against Olympiacos:

“We started the game terribly. Olympiacos played smart basketball early on and punished our starting lineup. They attacked the low post against Shorts. Vezenkov found easy baskets. Then we changed the ‘5’, became more aggressive and tied the game at the end of the second quarter. The third quarter was balanced; we defended and attacked through Nunn.

In the fourth quarter we made the same mistakes and lost. Congratulations to Vezenkov, who played incredibly well against our power forwards — he scored 24 points and grabbed rebounds. Our players, Juancho and Mitoglou, had zero points. I gave Osman some minutes at the ‘4’; he went 0/6 from three-point range. It’s very difficult to win a game without open shots from the ‘4’. Olympiacos, with Vezenkov, found those shots and made them. We missed all of ours. With only one player performing at that level, it’s hard to win a derby. Nunn played excellently. That’s why we lost the derby once again.”