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Panionios became the favorite for the third spot in the regular season of the Basket League after its comprehensive victory against PAOK on Saturday, while Olympiakos and Panathinaikos added one more win to their tally on Sunday. Kavala and Ilisiakos also scored precious victories over the weekend. Panionios remained joint second with Panathinaikos at the table, leaving PAOK in fourth, with a strong showing at the Nea Smyrni sports hall that brought about an 82-68 final score. It was quite refreshing, though, to see the Panionios and PAOK fans sit side by side, without any police between them. The team of coach Yiannis Sfairopoulos has the biggest challenge ahead of it now, as next Monday it will visit leader Olympiakos. The Reds won 94-76 at Panelefsiniakos to retain their perfect record, while Panathinaikos thrashed the other promoted team, Apollon Patras, 91-60 at home. Kavala took another leap toward safety beating Kolossos 86-72 on Rhodes. The result led to the dismissal of Kolossos coach Minas Gekos and the return on Tuesday of Vassilis Frangias, who had started the season on the Kolossos bench. Struggling Ilisiakos also got a breather thanks to its 66-64 home win over Ikaros Kallitheas in the weekend’s tightest game. In other weekend matches, Aris dismantled Peristeri 70-46 in Thessaloniki and AGO Rethymnou downed visiting KAO Dramas 88-75. | 
