Olympiacos won 68–66, had 9 consecutive victories over Panathinaikos in all competitions and essentially “locked in” the home championship lead, but the Basketball League derby continued at a high level after it ended and the Greens talked about changing the result and, with their statement, to provoke EEC President Vangelis Liolios to fulfill his duties.

The most typical phases that Panathinaikos complains about are Bacon’s two three-pointers in the closing seconds. In the first, he hit without a foul from Walkup to equalize, and in the second, he fired on a breath when Walkup again clearly interfered and the referees gave nothing.

In addition to the usual suspect Vezenkov, Olympiacos also had Fal on a big night, while Panathinaikos, who dominated the rebounds but made 7 more errors, missed out on Williams’ points, as did Grigonis. In a mostly defensive game, the Greens were very competitive and sent a message to Olympiacos that they were ready to challenge their dominance, even if they had a seemingly home disadvantage in the final.

Quarters: 24-14, 35-38, 49-48, 68-66.

OLYMPIACOS (18/37 doubles, 7/26 triples, 11/17 rebounds, 33 rebounds (24-9), 20 assists, 11kg, 10L): Walkup 8 (2), Kanan 8 (2), Fall 17 (8/13 pts, 1/2 pts, 9 pts), Vezhenkov 22 (4/10 pts, 2/4 triples, 8/9 pts, 7 pts, 2 kills, 4 cl.), Papanikolaou 1, Larentsakis, Slukas 7 (6 as., 3 cl.), Boloboy 2, Peters 1, Makissik 2.

PANATINAIKOS (19/33 doubles, 7/28 triples, 43 rebounds (34-9), 13 assists, 6 kg, 3 blocks, 17 L.): P. Kalaitsakis, Walters 13 (5/7 doubles. , 1/4 tr., 7 rebounds, 3 AST.), Williams 4 (4/4 pts.), Bacon 20 (7/13 tr., 2/6 tr., 5 rebounds, 3 AST.), Gudaitis 1 , Lee 13 (3/7 triples, 3 rebounds), Papagiannis 11 (4/5 doubles, 1/2 triples, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks), Bohorides, G. Kalaitsakis, Ponitka 4 (7 ribs)

In the remaining games of the 8th round: Peristeri – Ionikos 96-67, Apollon P. – Kolosos 85-66, AEK – Prometheus 73-70, Aris – Lavrio 87-61, Karditsa – PAOK 63-92.

• For the first time this year, the winner of the Cup will be determined in the “Final 8”, which will be held in Heraklion in February.