Olympiakos defeats Barcelona to lead Euroleague table
Another loss, the 19th for Panathinaikos, this time at Monaco
Greece’s two representatives in the Euroleague continued their separate ways in midweek, with Olympiakos remaining at the top of the table with a home win over Barcelona, and Panathinaikos suffering another defeat, this time away at Monaco.
Olympiakos faced the might of one of its main rivals to the Euroleague title, but managed to beat Barcelona 77-70 on Tuesday, shaking off two poor performances (the loss at Armani Milano and the narrow win at Kolossos for the Greek league).
The Catalans made a strong start, leading 20-11 after Q1, but the Reds bounced back, first with some ultra-tight defending in the second period (partial 18-7) and then with improved offense the visitors could not handle.
The Piraeus team had Shaquielle McKissic score 16 points on the night, and Giannoulis Larentzakis add another 14, in this 19th victory in 27 games for the Greek champion.
Panathinaikos challenged host Monaco for the first three quarters of the game on Wednesday before going down 84-70.
The game had two faces, one with Panathinaikos pushing the Monegasques up to the point when they led 60-57, toward the end of Q3, and another till the rest of the game where the Greeks apparently gave up trying, with the hosts running riot and scoring at will.
Mateusz Ponitka paced Panathinaikos with 11 points, while Dwayne Bacon scored 10, all in less than five minutes.
The Greens have therefore slumped to an 8-19 record.
