Olympiacos tonight plays the EuroLeague final against Real Madrid, and for the first time in recent years all the circumstances look as if they're lined up specifically for the Greek club - injured Edy Tavares, Alex Len and Usman Garuba on the other side, and the Greeks coming off the most convincing series in the EuroLeague playoffs to date.

As Shaquielle McKissic said before the duel: "I don't think there will be a better chance, not with Tavares off the floor." Olympiacos steamrolled Monaco 3:0 with an aggregate point differential of 74 points - the most dominant series in EuroLeague history. In the semifinal against Fenerbahçe they also held control for most of the game.

Still, seven of the current Olympiacos members - McKissic, Thomas Walkup, Ioannis Larentzakis, Moustapha Fall, Sasha Vezenkov, Kostas Papanikolaou and Alec Peters, plus coach Giorgos Bartzokas - were also part of the 2023 final. They lost then to the same Real Madrid, in circumstances many described as similar. Back then the Spaniards also had injured and suspended players, yet still won.

"I don't want to look at it that way," Walkup says. "I want to look within us and ask - what can we control tomorrow." Vezenkov adds: "We know they'll be very strong. We have to play like yesterday in defense and even better in attack." The Greeks respect their opponents, but don't want to let the biggest chance they've ever had slip away as a coincidence of circumstances.

For the home Balkan audience this is additionally interesting - Vezenkov is the man who brought peak basketball work to Olympiacos after returning from the NBA, while Mario Hezonja on the other side is the Croatian ace at Real. The two have already shared impressions, and both say almost the same thing: the decisions in the final will be made by the details, not by famous names.

Olympiacos has been waiting for its first EuroLeague trophy since 2013. If it happens tonight, this will be the moment when all the circumstances finally aligned. If not - 2023 will repeat, and the Greek club will have to wait for the next chance with slightly less-injured players on the other side.