Big win for Reds, big loss for Greens
Olympiakos made it two wins of three in the Euroleague with victory at Armani Milano on Friday, one day after Panathinaikos got demolished by Barcelona in Spain.
Featuring an improved Vassilis Spanoulis, who notched up 14 points in Milan, Olympiakos won 71-66 in Italy in a tight game where the Reds had the upper hand almost throughout after overcoming an early Armani lead.
The Greek champion had a 62 percent rate in two-pointers, against Armani’s 41 percent, making the most of its attacks at a court where it usually has problems.
Patric Young was the top scorer for the Reds with 18 points.
Barcelona outclassed Panathinaikos on a particularly poor night for the Greens in Spain, scoring a 25-point win (77-52) that has marked a season-low for the Greek league leader to date.
Panathinaikos only tried to match its host in the third period, reducing its deficit to seven points (48-41), before surrendering to the might of the Catalans.
Worse, influential forward James Gist – scorer of 13 points on the night – returned with an injury that is ruling him out for the next couple of weeks.
In the Eurocup on Wednesday Aris scored a precious win at Unics Kazan in overtime (74-73) and AEK beat another Russian team, Nizhny Novgorod 87-70 at home. PAOK lost 100-80 at home to Besiktas.
