The evenings are warming up in Paris as the city sets out its spring colours. But it will be a piping hot atmosphere at Bercy on Sunday as Olympiakos go in search of their second Euroleague title, their first since 1997.

The Piraeus club, so eager to eclipse Panathinaikos' win in Berlin last year, produced some stunning basketball to come back and beat Partizan Belgrade in the semi-finals.

Josh Childress has had his critics since coming to Greece from the NBA in summer 2008 but he showed just why Olympiakos were prepared to pay such money for him.

His buzzer-beating dunk to send the game into overtime was testament that the ex-Atlanta Hawk was now feeling absolutely at home in Europe.

"You'll have to ask Milos (Teodosic) if the last play in the fourth quarter was a pass or a shot, but I think he tried to shoot and the ball was a little short, so I was just there to catch and dunk it," he said in his usual modest way.

Teodosic was in doubt at all about what happened in that last play of normal time.

"I think I owe Josh my life for saving me," he said.

"I tried to win the game but I saw the shot was going to the left, and I didn't know what to think. But all of a sudden Josh came out of nowhere and dunked it.

"Luck always has something to do with the game, and today luck was on our side. I hope we'll have it with us also on Sunday night."

Of course, a year ago, Olympiakos reached the Final Four only to be drawn against their closest rivals Panathinaikos. They froze and lost. This time it was different.

"Last year we lost the semi-finals so it was very important for us to come here and win this game," said Ioannis Bouroussis.

"We knew it's going to be very difficult, and when they held a lead in the last quarter we were a bit nervous but we made the right moves to recover. If we don't win the title we didn't do anything today."

Standing in their way is Barcelona, the side that dispatched CSKA so comfortably in the other semi-final.

They will present many problems to the Greek side, their defence being particularly tight and the battles for the rebounds is going to be intense.

But the Olympiakos coach Pangiotos Giannakis is in no doubt that the Reds can inherit the crown from the Greens.

"They (Olympiakos) have the capacity to win, of course, especially if they rebound well, as they did today.

"Barcelona is not a new team for us. For many years, they have been trying to win the title. It's a team that has been built strong and always plays high-quality basketball.

"This year they won twice against the defending champions, Panathinaikos.

"On Sunday, we will need to focus for 40 minutes, because it will be an extremely tough game. But we can win. We have our chances, just as Barcelona has chances.

"They played and won major games but I think that these two teams are here in the final because they consistently play well."

Here's hoping that Olympiakos have reason to remember Paris in the spring with affection.