Olympiakos has returned to the top four of the Euroleague table with its home win against Barcelona on Thursday, its fifth win in row, and Panathinaikos saw off Villeurbanne at Lyon on Friday, despite playing another game without its superstar, Kendrick Nunn.
Olympiakos beat Barcelona 87-75, as it made up for its poor third quarter with a stellar fourth one. However, the Piraeus team narrowly failed to match the margin of its loss in the game at Barcelona earlier this season, so it will have a negative head-to-head record if the two teams end up with the same wins.
On Thursday the Reds started off well, with a 27-13 Q1 score that led to 46-37 half-time result. Nevertheless, the third quarter was like a black hole for the players of Giorgos Batzokas, with Barcelona edging ahead 64-59.
The hosts regrouped, though, and their 28-11 Q4 partial eased them to victory, even if a Jan Vesely buzzer beater deprived them of the victory margin they had wanted. This was Olympiakos’ 16th win in 24 games.
Sasha Vezenkov notched up 20 points and Tyler Dorsey 17, but it was Tyrique Jones who snatched the MVP honors with 16 points, eight rebounds, three steals and three blocks.
Panathinaikos shook off its poor start to defeat bottom team Villeurbanne 79-78 in France, and climb to a 15-10 record.
The slow start of the Greens allowed the French to open an 11-point margin (14-3). Then, the entry of Kostas Sloukas changed things in the visitors’ favor. They first led early in the second quarter (22-21) and never looked back, also having Cedi Osman and Dinos Mitoglou back from injury.
The Greek defense made the difference on the night, led by Jerian Grant, keeping the hosts on low figures after the first four minutes of the game. Most of the 15-point lead (71-56) was wasted, but not all of it.
This was a road win Panathinaikos badly needed, ahead of another demanding double week against Real Madrid and Partizan.
Sloukas paced the Greens scoring 26 points, with Grant adding 15.