Grecians earn another shot
TweetGREECE's two Euroleague clubs, winners of the past three championships, staved off elimination today, winning closely contested home games.
Defending champion Olympiakos kept alive its bid for a third consecutive title when it beat Real Madrid 78-76.
Madrid still leads their quarter-final series 2-1 with Game 4 at Olympiakos on Thursday.
The two clubs fought out last year’s championship, Olympiakos narrowly averting being swept when guard Costas Sloukas scored the go-ahead free throws with 7.4 seconds to play.
Madrid’s Sergio Llull missed two free throws with 2.9 seconds left for the chance to tie, Madrid came up with the offensive board but could not get off a shot in time.
Olympiakos was scoreless for nearly six minutes of the final quarter but Madrid could only close the eight-point gap to one (68-67) during that drought.
Real took the lead 74-73 with 44 seconds left on a Sergio Rodriguez layup.
Giorgos Printezis gave the hosts the lead back with his only field goal, a 3-pointer with 21.4 seconds left.
Forward Bryant Dunston led Olympiakos with 21 points, on 9-of 10-shooting, with nine rebounds.
Rodriguez paced Madrid with 19 points.
Panathinaikos, which won the last of its six Euroleague championships in 2011, beat CSKA Moscow 65-59.
Centre Stephane Lasme led the Greeks with 13 points, Sonny Weems scoring 14 for CSKA.
The Russian outfit will try to close out the best-of-five quarter-final series on Thursday, again at Panathinaikos.
Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Emporio Armani Milan 75-63 to take a 2-1 lead in that series.
Australian dual-Olympian Joe Ingles was hampered with three fouls in the first half which restricted his contribution.
The series winners reach the Euroleague Final Four in Milan on May 16-18, Barcelona already advancing on Sunday after sweeping Turkey's Galatasaray.
OVER in the NBA playoffs, the Houston Rockets can take cold comfort from the fact the league today confirmed the referees made an incorrect call in the final seconds of Portland's 122-120 victory.
Monday's overtime road triumph gave the Trail Blazers a 1-0 lead over the Rockets in their best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series.
“After video review by the league office, we have determined that the officials were incorrect in assessing a foul to the Rockets' Dwight Howard with 10.8 seconds remaining in overtime,” NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn said.
“The foul should have been called on the Blazers' Joel Freeland and Howard should have been awarded two free throws.”
That would have put Howard at the line with the chance to give the Rockets the lead. Instead, Freeland made one of two free throws to create Portland's final victory margin.