The double week in the Euroleague has started with defeats for Greece’s representatives against Spanish opposition, as Panathinaikos went down at home to Barcelona and Olympiakos suffered a 25-point mauling at Baskonia.
BASKETBALL
T.J. Bray shone in his debut at the Greek league with champion Panathinaikos on Sunday, while the Greens’ fans will have to wait a couple more days to see ex-NBA star Mario Hezonja pull the team’s vest for the first time.
The Greeks returned to Euroleague action this week with two losses in games they will feel they could have won, as Olympiakos left a great comeback against CSKA Moscow unfinished, while Panathinaikos let a 10-point lead at Alba Berlin slip.
Olympiakos suffered its fifth defeat in a row in the Euroleague on Thursday, losing at Anadolu Efes, while Panathinaikos remained in quarantine due to a number of coronavirus cases in its roster.
Lavrio continues to fly high, downing struggling Aris on Saturday, while Panathinaikos’ game at PAOK on Sunday was postponed due to four Covid-19 cases in the Greens' roster.
Panathinaikos triumphed in Piraeus over Olympiakos on Friday, against the odds, with its 88-77 win also covering the Greens’ deficit in the two teams’ head-to-head in the Euroleague.
This season’s Basket League is definitely the least predictable of the last few decades, with both Panathinaikos and AEK losing this weekend and Lavrio enjoying the second highest record past the halfway point of the regular season.
Greece’s Euroleague representatives are heading to opposite directions, as Panathinaikos is clearly on the mend while Olympiakos sees the top eight spots slipping away.
Promitheas put an end to second-placed Lavrio’s winning streak, while Panathinaikos and AEK scraped past their weekend opponents in the Basket League.
The week seemed perfect for Greek teams in the Euroleague up to the last few seconds of Olympiakos’ game at Zalgiris, when the Reds blew the game they should have won, after also winning at Villeurbanne on Tuesday.
Greeks and Turks ought to double their efforts to build friendship bridges, despite the policy of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who feeds on conflict, top Turkish basketball player and NBA star Enes Kanter tells Kathimerini English Edition.
Promitheas Patras got the better of AEK in Athens on Saturday, with Panathinaikos strolling to the top of the table through a win at Aris on Sunday.
Greece’s teams in the Euroleague brought down on Friday what they had constructed earlier in the week, as Panathinaikos had Fenerbahce put 100 past it and Olympiakos was upset at home to lowly Villeurbanne.
Olympiakos and Panathinaikos produced two very convincing performances and secured important wins at the start of a double week in the Euroleague, as the Reds edged out host Maccabi in Tel Aviv and the Greens dismissed Villeurbanne in Athens.
Panathinaikos won the Athens derby with AEK on Sunday night, as it awaits the arrival of Israeli coach Oded Kattash in the new week.
Olympiakos took an important step toward a playoff spot with its home win over Bayern Munich, while Panathinaikos is waiting for new coach Oded Kattash to help it recover after three losses in a row in the Euroleague.
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