Basketball
Olympiacos’ life decision and coming back with a trophy
Piraeus came back from self-exile, won the first title of the year against a battle-ready Panathinaikos and Pantelis Diamantopoulos writes about all the…crazy things that happened in the finale of a perfect Final Four.
Olympiacos returned to A1 and the Cup. And when he returned, he won the cup in beautiful Heraklion. For the championship we will see what happens. There is a road… The Piraeus team shocked in the second half as it looked like they were going to lose the… country from their feet. When Panathinaikos had the first word. When the “green” put shots from 5 yards as you will read below. Missed a half. He disappeared for another ten minutes. But the last third was enough for Olympiakos.
He took the cup, he’s taking it to the port. And above all, he gains self-confidence and composure. Gains calm and added momentum for the sequel. Because Olympiacos does not finish in the cup. He has the Euroleague, he has at least the playoffs ahead of him. And then he will get back to the championship where the struggling Panathinaikos will be in front of him again.
Nedovic is on fire
We said the cup winners didn’t start well. Olympiacos needed some time off to wake up. And to consider that these are usually forced to do so by the prince. It was Bartzokas turn to watch his players become alumni. However, the “red-whites” were able to control the first ten minutes thanks to their defense, rebounds and Dorsey, who turned the green defense upside down. Tyler for such games is… a manola and he was the first to learn the “shamrock”.
In any case, it was a final where the benches and psychology and much more played a role. After all, in the first rotation, nobody knew which of the “Eternals” would do better in his attack. Priftis also showed his belt in the second ten minutes when he saw that the Piraeus didn’t have their peripheral pistols. We saw a Sluka take over the situation to find cracks, but at the same time Nedovic kept his team alone. The Serb tried to play all of Olympiakos and he succeeded.
Dorsey’s management, who spoke up just before the end of the quarter and didn’t play again until the end of the half, caused a multitude of comments. Bartzokas was of course the one who left him to say everything in the second half. And on the home stretch together with another quartet. Wookup, McKissick, Vezenkov, and Martin. They led the team and so everyone was happy together. In the final it doesn’t matter who plays, but who wins. And maybe they will consolidate it in Piraeus forever.
piss off!
Priftis was 100% prepared. The second half started with Mekon alongside Nedovic and Sant Ross in defence. The Greek coach went with the pace and was rewarded. He gave the American time, which Bartzokas didn’t do when Dorsey raged at the start. Over time, in such games, psychology plays a big role. Olympiacos couldn’t even do resets. Most of them were static, getting boxes from five yards in defense and up front they were late and they were trying to get oil with the ball. Somewhere the final for Panathinaikos was in play.
Well, Panathinaikos did all that in the fourth quarter. Bartzokas left the watch, left the five you read above on the floor, and walked safely. Woookup did terrible things on the floor. Alone the whole green periphery dissolved. McKissick gave tremendous energy and Dorsey took the lead again. Olympiakos only had a problem with the rebounds, which the “Clover” won. However, this 0:15 of the last quarter brought the situation to a head.
Nedovic scored the last basket in the 18th minute. Then he “broke her”. And his effort in the first part was really moving, but Panathinaikos’ material was not up to the pressure and intensity of the match. Only shots in the last period for the “Clover”. And Jovi – Priftis couldn’t expect anything more throughout the Final Four. They defecated. As long as they held out against a team that was suddenly draining all the energy in the world…
Outbreak…
In the end, some screamed, some cried. That was several years. The team had to win the title since 16, but this time until the cup in Aorakia it was strangely spent. Disappeared and banished himself. He made his own revolution and came back. He went back into the large living room. Without the giant Vassilis Spanoulis. But with a team chosen by Bartzokas. With Costas Sloukas for extra weight. Papanikolaou-Printezis to hold the flag, Vezenkov to cover it all over, Larentzakis to give his soul and of course the incredible and insane Tyler Dorsey to show how basketball is played in the country that produced it ! That’s why he came to Greece and as long as he stays, he will. Not alone. All together! With them, the foreigners, not least further from the limelight but with performances like that of Wookup or McKissick, are giving things back and forth to their team.
Of course, Olympiacos also has a long way to go. The picture in the first part was tragic. But a game lasts at least 40 minutes. Panathinaikos lost a cup. The effort that is made this year in the “Klee” is different than in previous years and, in my opinion, remarkable and very dignified. Priftis was ready for that full foursome, Nedovic was shocking as long as he lasted.
The two will wrap up the season. Until then, God…
I am a sports writer and journalist who has written for various online publications including Sportish. I’m originally from the UK but currently live in Toronto, Canada. I’m also an author on Sportish and have written several articles on a variety of sports-related topics.
On the evening of December 25 and the night of December 26, five Christmas games were traditionally held as part of the NBA regular season.
The most important match of the match day was played in Oklahoma, where the Thunder hosted San Antonio.
The home team started the game better and were ahead for most of the first quarter, but they missed a move 0:11 into the quarter, allowing Spurs to take the lead 41:36. Oklahoma was unable to take the lead after that, but San Antonio maintained its lead by keeping the game under control and eventually won 117-102.
The Spurs have won all three games against the Thunder this season, while Oklahoma has lost just two of the other 28 games.
The most productive player of the match was Fox, who brought 29 points to San Antonio, while Vembanyama also scored a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
The Lakers played Houston at home and suffered a crushing defeat.
The fate of the match was decided in the first quarter, when the Rockets won by 12 points (25:37). Afterwards, they increased their advantage by completely controlling the course of the match and eventually won with a score of 119:96.
For Houston, Thompson scored 26 points and Shengyun had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Denver and Minnesota closed out game day.
The first half of the match ended in a draw. Neither team managed to take a lead of more than 9 points, and Denver entered the big break with a 2-point lead at 57:55. In the third quarter, the Nuggets made an attack of 6:0 at the beginning and 10:2 in the middle, reaching a 16-point lead, and at the end of the quarter they were ahead +15 – 90:78. The Timberwolves did not give up and made a 16:2 move midway through the fourth quarter, reaching a lead of 107:108. This gave fans a tense ending; Edwards hit a three-pointer 2 seconds before the siren, sending the game into overtime at 115:115. And there Jokic played a decisive role and scored 18 points in 5 minutes, allowing the Nuggets to win 142:138.
Jokic scored 56 points in the NBA on Christmas Day, falling just four shy of Bernard King’s record. Nikola also recorded a triple-double with 16 rebounds and 15 assists. Murray had a double-double with 35 points and 10 assists.
NBA. Regular season. Christmas Day, 25-26 December
New York – Cleveland – 126:124 (23:38, 37:20, 24:38, 42:28)
New York: Brunson (34), Hart (15), Bridges (12), Towns (11 + 14 rebounds), Anunoby (8) – start; Clarkson (25), Kolek (16 + 9 assists), Diawara (5), Hookporty (0), Robinson (0 + 12 rebounds).
cleveland: Mitchell (34 + 7 rebounds + 6 assists), Garland (20 + 10 assists), Merrill (11), Allen (7 + 9 rebounds), Wade (6) – start; Tyson (16), E. Mobley (14 + 9 rebounds), Hunter (13), Bryant (3), Ball (0).
Oklahoma – San Antonio – 102:117 (36:41, 24:28, 19:26, 23:22)
Oklahoma: Gilgeous-Alexander (22), Hartenstein (13 + 12 rebounds), Jaylen Williams (12 + 6 assists), Holmgren (10 + 12 rebounds), Dort (8) – start; Caruso (12), K. Williams (8), Wiggins (5), Joe (5), Wallace (5), Carlson (2), Barnhizer (0), Youngblood (0).
San Antonio: Fox (29), Castle (19 + 7 assists), Barnes (15), Cornet (6), Vassell (5) – start; Vembanyama (19 + 11 rebounds), Harper (12), K. Johnson (9 + 7 rebounds), McLaughlin (3), Sohan (0), Shempeni (0), Brian (0), Olynyk (0), Waters (0).
Golden State – Dallas – 126:116 (40:28, 31:30, 29:31, 26:27)
Golden State: Curry (23), Butler (14 + 9 rebounds + 9 assists), Moody (12), Dr. Green (7), Post (6) – start; Melton (16), Horford (14), Podziemski (13 + 8 rebounds), Jackson-Davis (10), Payton II (6), Richard (5).
dallas: Flagg (27), Marshall (14), Washington (14 + 10 rebounds), Nembhard (4), Davis (3) – starter; Williams (26), Christie (13), Thompson (7), Gafford (6), Caleb Martin (2).
Lakers-Houston-96:119 (25:37, 28:26, 21:29, 22:27)
Lakers: Doncic (25 + 7 assists + 6 turnovers), James (18), Reeves (12), Ayton (10), Hachimura (0) – start; Vanderbilt (11), Smart (6), Larevia (5), James Jr. (3), Thiero (2), Knecht (2), Kleber (2).
Houston: Thompson (26 + 7 rebounds), Durant (25 + 9 assists), Smith (16 + 7 rebounds), Shengyun (14 + 12 rebounds + 6 turnovers), Eason (13) – start; Sheppard (13), Capela (6), Adams (4 + 9 rebounds), Tate (2), A. Holiday (0), Davison (0), Green (0), Okogie (0), Finney-Smith (0).
Denver – Minnesota – 142:138 (STARTING 32:29, 25:26, 35:23, 23:37, 27:23)
Denver: Jokic (56 + 16 rebounds + 15 assists + 5 turnovers), J. Murray (35 + 10 assists), Hardaway (19), Jones (12 + 9 rebounds), Watson (9) – start; B. Brown (7), Nnaji (2), Valanciunas (2), Strother (0).
Minnesota: Edwards (44 + 6 turnovers), Randle (32 + 7 rebounds + 6 assists), McDaniels (21), Gobert (9 + 12 rebounds + 6 blocks), DiVincenzo (6 + 7 rebounds + 8 assists) – start; Reed (13), Hyland (11), Clark (2), Juzeng (0), Conley (0), Shannon (0).
tournament tables
Western Conference
Eastern Conference
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has written for various websites and magazines. I currently work as an author at Sportish, a news website that covers sports news. My main focus is writing about soccer, rugby and other sports in the world.
Head coach of “Kharkov Falcons” Valery Plekhanov He summarized the team’s 2025 results and talked about the preparations for the continuation of the season:
“Summing up the results of the calendar year, I want to congratulate all our fans on the upcoming New Year and Merry Christmas, wish our favorite team peace and good victories! “Kharkov Falcons” are the first players of this Super League season, so second place at the moment is a good result.
There are a few points we would like to emphasize separately. First of all, seven players from last season’s active squad won the Premier League together, but five of them never played in the Super League. Therefore, the experience they gained in the first half of this season is almost priceless. Secondly, Kharkiv Falcons are one of the two champion teams that did not play a single match at home. It’s very difficult when you’re not playing for your fans, you’re training in one gym, and you’re playing in a different gym every time, even on home tours. In these conditions, 4 defeats in 13 matches is a good result.
One of the most negative moments of this year was not being able to participate in the last four of the Ukrainian Cup. Unfortunately, we were a little unlucky in the draw. After an emotionally difficult and physically exhausting match with Krivbass, we did not have enough strength for the next match against Kiev-Basket in the quarter-finals. Unfortunately, our performances in the cup are over, but now we will be able to focus all our efforts on the championship.
Our main problem now is injuries. We have five injured players, three of whom have serious injuries that require a long recovery period. We’re about to get off to a very tough start to the new calendar season because the Falcons will be playing basketball six weekends in a row, which means six road trips with no rest time. If we could count on all twelve players in the squad at the beginning of the season, there will no longer be such a rotation. Therefore, all the responsibility and burden will fall on the players in the rankings. I hope they get over their injuries in the new year, recover from their injuries as soon as possible, return to work and help their beloved club properly represent Kharkiv in the Super League.
Despite the holidays, we have training scheduled almost seven days a week. “I really hope that by January 10 we will be a combat-ready team that can solve serious problems.”
Source: Sport UA
Ralph Bean is a writer for Sportish. Ralph has written about sports news for the last two years, and is currently an author on the site. He enjoys writing about sports, and hopes to cover more stories in the future.
On December 23, as part of the 1/8 final of the Romanian Cup, the Ukrainian derby was played between Bucharest and Dinamo. Vyacheslav Bobrova and “Fast” Alexandra Lipovoy.
Dinamo won the match 89:79, and the fate of the ticket to the next round was decided in overtime, as Rapid won the first match – 83:73.
The home players acted more accurately in extra time and won with a total score of 101:85 and advanced to the quarter-finals.
Vyacheslav Bobrov made a double-double in 33 minutes on the field, scoring 10 points (4/7 two-pointers, 0/1 three-pointers, 2/2 free throws), collecting 10 rebounds, 1 block, 5 turnovers and 2 fouls.
Alexander Lipovoy played 38 minutes, scored 16 points (1/2 two-pointers, 4/7 three-pointers, 2/2 free throws), collected 3 rebounds, made 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 4 fouls.
Romanian Cup. 1/8 final. 2nd match, 23 December
Dinamo Bucharest – Rapid Bucharest – 101:85 Overtime (17:22, 28:12, 24:19, 20:26, 12:6)
Match record:
Source: Sport UA
Ralph Bean is a writer for Sportish. Ralph has written about sports news for the last two years, and is currently an author on the site. He enjoys writing about sports, and hopes to cover more stories in the future.
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