Olympiacos Strikes First Against Panathinaikos in Greek Finals

Olympiacos Piraeus opened the Greek league finals with a victory, defeating Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens 82-76 in Game 1 of the series. The reigning EuroLeague champion protected home court and took the first step in a best-of-five playoff series.

Evan Fournier delivered in the big game once again, leading Olympiacos with 20 points and 5 assists. Sasha Vezenkov, the EuroLeague MVP, contributed 16 points, while Nikola Milutinov posted a crucial double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. For Panathinaikos, Cedi Osman led the way with 23 points, supported by 14 from Dinos Mitoglou and 10 from Kendrick Nunn.

Olympiacos began pulling away in the second quarter, holding Panathinaikos scoreless for over three minutes to build a 32-22 lead. A 2+1 from Milutinov and a penetration by Fournier extended the advantage to 40-26 before halftime arrived at 42-30.

The home team's lead grew to 49-32 following a 7-0 run, but Panathinaikos responded through Mitoglou, who hit four three-pointers in less than four minutes and cut the deficit to 62-58 by the end of the third quarter.

Head coach Ergin Ataman's team even took a brief lead in the fourth period, 64-65, after two baskets from Osman. The Turkish wing then tied it at 73-73 with a corner three-pointer with 4:40 remaining. However, Olympiacos closed out the game stronger: Vezenkov restored the lead, Fournier extended it from the free throw line, and Thomas Walkup sealed it with a three-pointer with 19 seconds left to make it 80-73.

With this victory, Olympiacos takes the series advantage in the Greek finals and makes clear that, even after winning the EuroLeague, their ambition on the domestic front remains intact.