Turkish opposition too much for Greens and Reds

Turkish teams got the better of their Greek opponents this week in the Euroleague, as Anadolu Efes beat Panathinaikos by 20 in Istanbul while Fenerbahce snatched a five-point victory at Olympiakos on Friday.

The Greens lost 85-65 as they played catch-up for the entire game against a superior Anadolu Efes.

The very poor shooting rate of the Greek champion and its decreasing figures in rebounds in the last few weeks left it with little chance to rival a host who has been improving recently.

Mario Hezonja scored 14 points and Dinos Mitoglou with Zach Auguste had 10 points each for the Greens, who suffered their 19th loss in 29 games.

Olympiakos lost 76-71 to Fenerbahce, as its perennial second-half comeback was not sufficient to overturn the situation.

The visitors were 16 points ahead at half-time (43-27) and defended their lead even when the Reds came within striking distance toward the end.

Three players did all the work for Olympiakos, with Livio Jean-Charles (16 points), Sasha Vezenkov (15) and Kostas Sloukas (12), but they hardly had any support from the rest of the team.

The Reds are mathematically out of contention for a playoff spot, with a 14-17 record.