Istanbul and Barcelona not hospitable for Reds and Greens
Olympiakos came close to completing an impressive fightback in the Euroleague and beat Fenerbahce in Turkey on Thursday, while Panathinaikos was nowhere near beating Barcelona in Spain.
The Reds lost 79-77 to Fener in Istanbul, and issued a statement protesting at referee decisions that it claimed shaped the result.
The Greek champion found itself trailing by up to 16 points on Thursday, but found a way back into the game and brought it down to the wire. It all boiled down to a final effort, with the visitors missing the target twice to succumb to their hosts by two points.
Olympiakos slipped to a 3-3 record, with Alec Peters scoring 19 points and Isaiah Canaan another 15, while Fenerbahce had Greek star Giorgos Papagiannis as its top scorer with 15 points.
Papagiannis’ former club, Panathinaikos, was disappointing in Spain, going down 80-72, in a game it never got to lead.
The Greens were competitive only in the first (21-20) and the last quarter, with Barcelona leading by up to 75-47, eight minutes from time, after which they dropped a gear and allowed Panathinaikos to reduce its arrears thanks to its Greek substitutes.
This was the fourth loss for Panathinaikos in six games, having Jerian Grant make 15 points and Aleksander Balcerowski 12. The club is now looking forward to utilizing its new signing, Kendrick Nunn.
