Big win for Reds, bad loss for Greens
Istanbul proved once again very hospitable for Olympiakos, that defeated host Darussafaka on Friday for the Euroleague, just as Panathinaikos suffered a bad defeat at Barcelona.
Olympiakos practically offset its home loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv last week beating Darussafaka 77-71 to take its record to six wins in 10 games.
The Reds were dominant throughout the match in Istanbul and even when the host tried to cut the distance toward the end they showed their quality and their multiple solutions in attack that saw four of them finish the game with double-digit scoring figures.
They were led by an impressive Matt Lojeski, who scored 15 points (3/5 triples, 3/3 two-pointers) and collected seven rebounds. Giorgos Printezis also scored 15 points, while Vassilis Spanoulis had 13.
Panathinaikos came up against a revamped Barcelona, that had little to do with the team which Real Madrid had toyed with two weeks earlier to win by 39 points away. The Greens went down 72-57 on Friday and are struggling to make the top eight that leads to the play-offs.
After a balanced first quarter (19-19) Barcelona led by up to eight points and then by five at half-time (36-31) as Panathinaikos was unable to impose its game on its host. The Catalans were emphatic in the second half, while the Greeks were erratic, and the result will certainly rock the team of former Barcelona coach Xavi Pascual that is now on a 5-5 record.
Nick Calathes and James Feldeine scored 13 points each for the Greens.
In the FIBA Champions League PAOK saw off Ventspils 85-81, AEK lost 78-75 at Zielona Gora and Aris went down 65-62 to Monaco at home.
