Reds take Munich, Greens crumble in Istanbul
Olympiakos and Panathinaikos offered their fans a very differing taste in the Euroleague this week, with the Reds triumphing in Germany over Bayern Munich and the Greens suffering a 30-point loss at Fenerbahce.
Olympiakos made it four out of four on the road with an emphatic 82-71 victory in Munich on Thursday, led by an outstanding Sasha Vezenkov.
The Greek champion led from the start, taking a 16-point advantage from the first quarter (27-11) and never letting Bayern get back into the game even when the hosts tried to reduce their arrears in the second and third period.
Vezenkov paced Olympiakos with 20 points, 13 rebounds and four assists in 30 minutes, while Moustapha Fall added another 16 points for the Reds, who are now on a 6-2 record.
Panathinaikos, on the other hand, surrendered to favorite Fenerbahce in Turkey on Friday with a 107-77 score.
The Turkish team, that tops the standings with a 7-1 record after that victory, responded to the strong start of Panathinaikos (22-25 after Q1) with 13 unanswered points (35-25) and a total of 33 points scored in the second period.
The Greek teams was unable to contain the hosts’ offense, that ran riot in the second half with another 52 points to complete the routing of the six-time Euroleague champion.
The Greens, who are now bottom of the table with two victories in eight games, had Dwayne Bacon notch up 20 points and Giorgos Papagiannis make 12.
