Vital victories for Panathinaikos, Olympiakos
Panathinaikos and Olympiakos had a good week in the Euroleague, scoring victories that were essential for their survival in the race for a play-off spot.
They both are on three wins from six games and showed glimpses of their glorious past in the way they conquered their opponents.
The Greens produced their first convincing display after five worrying performances in the Top 16 of the Euroleague, to beat Cedevita Zagreb 78-60 in Croatia on Thursday.
Led my a majestic Miroslav Raduljica, who scored 21 points, Panathinaikos was on top throughout the game and took leads as high as 30 points before easing to its first away win in the second group stage, in a way that was reminiscent of the times it used to sweep the Euroleague titles.
Olympiakos found itself behind Moscow side Khimki by 12 in each of the first three quarters of the game at the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus on Friday, but a strong last 15 minutes – combined with a disastrous performance by the Russians at the same time – turned things around in the Greeks’ favor, who eventually won 89-77.
Giorgos Printezis was unstoppable, with 30 points on the night, guiding the Reds to a comeback that was typical of the Olympiakos teams that won Europe’s crown in 2012 and 2013.
PAOK scored a huge win for the Eurocup on Wednesday, beating Spanish league leader Valencia 75-72 at home, while Aris went down 72-68 at Neptunas Klaipeda in Lithuania.
