CSKA Moscow defeated Panathinaikos Athens in a semifinal that the now former champions initially dominated. In fact, the Greek team started the game very well and at the end of the first quarter they were ahead by 29-15. In the second quarter, however, the Russian team’s defense beaome very aggressive, reversing the situation. The first half ended with Panathinaikos Athens still ahead, but only 34-32. The second half was closer and both teams tried the decisive run but every time seeing their opponents’ reaction. The third quarter ended with the Greeks leading 55-51. In the fourth quarter, CSKA Moscow players were able to take the lead to get to a very intense final in which they managed to win with a 66-64 final.
In the other semifinal, there was a surprising win for Olympiacos Piraeus against Barcelona. Again, the Greek team started playing better but unlike the other semifinal the Catalan team failed to recover from a slow start. Thus Olympiacos finished the first quarter leading 17-11, the second quarter 33-29, the third quarter 50-47 and, despite Barcelona’s attempts to change their fortunes in the final minutes of game, the Greek team won 68-64.
The third-place game was won by Barcelona, who defeated Panathinaikos Athens 74-69. I didn’t watch it because honestly I don’t consider it interesting.
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The final starts with aggressive defenses and consequent bad shots and turnovers by both CSKA Moscow and Olympiacos Piraeus. Inevitably, the score is very low and the first quarter ends with a 10-7 lead for the Russian team. In the second quarter CSKA starts finding some points in the paint that give the team some offensive pace and at that point Teodosic scores three three-pointers in a couple of minutes giving the Russian team the first significant advantage. Olympiacos is still struggling with the scoring and the second quarter ends with a 34-20 lead for CSKA. In the third quarter Olympiacos Piraeus tries to react and the Russian team makes some mistakes still keeping a good lead and ending the third quarter with a 53-40 lead. In the fourth quarter, the Greek team still believes it and continues a 14-0 total run to get back into the game. Unexpectedly, the there’s a close anding and the unbelievable happens: Siskauskas misses two free throws and literally at the last second Printezis scores the field goal that marks the 62-61 win for Olympiacos Piraeus.
For Olympiacos Piraeus it’s the most unlikely victory considering that in the third quarter the game seemed over. In the Final Four the Greek team defeated the two teams favorite for the final victory so noone can say that they didn’t deserved to win.
