Both Olympiakos and Panathinaikos are leading their best-of-five Euroleague playoff series 2-1, as while the Reds lost to Real Madrid on Tuesday, the Greens beat Efes Anadolu in Turkey on Wednesday to regain home advantage – if they are need to use it.
Olympiakos lost 80-72 in Madrid and on Thursday it will get a second chance for a road win that will directly send it to the Final Four.
Playing without injured Evan Fournier, Olympiakos did push Real all the way, but the hosts were determined to prevent a sweep.
Having finished the first half in front (44-38), the Greeks led 56-54 for the last time, as the Madrid team never conceded the lead after that. The final score is probably a little flattering for Real.
The Reds had Sasha Vezenkov score 21 points and Nigel Williams-Goss notch up 17.
Panathinaikos did it the hard way, offsetting its loss in Game 2 in Athens with an 81-77 triumph in Turkey.
The Greens gave up a 13-point advantage (63-50), as Efes responded to tie the game (68-68) and set up a very tight finish.
For a second game in a row the Panathinaikos defense let in more points in the last quarter, but when Kendrick Nunn and Dinos Mitoglou took off there was no bringing them down.
In a game where not a single free throw was missed by either team (25/25 in total), Nunn made 25 points and Mitoglou had 18 for Panathinaikos.
Game 4 is on Friday and Panathinaikos needs one win to make the Abu Dhabi showpiece.