Reds and Greens are tied on a 5-3 record after another Euroleague double week, as Olympiakos defeated leader Hapoel Tel Aviv in Piraeus, while Panathinaikos went down at Monaco on Friday.
In a very tight game that had in suspense what it lacked in quality, Olympiakos saw off Hapoel 62-58 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium.
The first half was rather normal, with the newcomers from Israel leading 39-33. Then in the third quarter the two teams appeared to compete in shot misses, as Olympiakos scored just 11 points and Hapoel four (4). Thankfully the last quarter was quite more interesting, with the Greek champion edging out its visitor in the last minute to claim a precious win by four.
If anything, coach Giorgos Bartzokas has answered the questions about the Reds’ defense that had arisen in the previous game against Monaco on Wednesday.
Sasha Vezenkov made 14 points and Tyler Dorsey scored 11 for Olympiakos.
Two days after beating Olympiakos in Piraeus, Monaco also downed Panathinaikos, this time in Monte Carlo, with a 92-84 score.
The result is actually quite flattering for the Greens, who even found themselves trailing by 21 points (85-64) in the last quarter of the game.
A late rally by the Greek side ensured some damage limitation, while the 25-14 assists in Monaco’s favor are quite telling.
Kendrick Nunn paced Panathinaikos with 26 points, followed by Kostas Sloukas with 14.