Unlikely win for Olympiakos at Valencia

Olympiakos scored an unexpected win on Wednesday at Valencia that matters little, given it cannot qualify anymore to the Euroleague playoffs, while Panathinaikos was once again disappointing, losing at home to Baskonia on Tuesday.

The Reds won 88-79 at Valencia thanks to three excellent quarters after which it led by 33 points (74-41).

In the last quarter complacency got the better of the Greeks, against a team desperate to win to stay alive in the race for the playoffs.

The Spaniards managed to crawl back into the game with a partial 30-5 in the first eight minutes of the last quarter that cut their deficit to eight points, but could not get any closer than seven points, before succumbing to the Reds on the night.

Sasha Vezenkov (19 points) and Giorgos Printezis (18) led Olympiakos to its 15th win in 32 games.

Panathinaikos, on the other hand, suffered a 97-82 home reverse to Baskonia, falling victim of an obscene three-point shooting rate of the Basques in Athens (14/20, or 70%).

Baskonia, that had needed this win, dominated the game throughout, mainly thanks to its long-range shooting but also to the poor defending of Panathinaikos. Notably, the Greens’ coach, Oded Kattash, was once again penalized with a technical foul.

In this 20th loss of Panathinaikos in 30 games, Dinos Mitoglou was the only player to impress, with 22 points and eight rebounds.