Panathinaikos eclipses Olympiakos by nine
Panathinaikos beat Olympiakos for the second time in 10 days, this time for the Basket League, to remain on top of the table, along with fellow unbeaten Peristeri after six league games.
The Greens eclipsed the Reds with a 79-70 score at the Olympic Sports Hall, largely thanks to an unstoppable Nikos Pappas, scorer of 24 points. Olympiakos led for the last time halfway through the second period (26-20), before Panathinaikos raised its game for a 12-1 run (32-27), to never relinquish the lead again.
The hosts were more efficient in attack and less error-prone than the visitors, to clinch not only the win but also a nine-point cushion in case the two sides end up with the same record at the end of the regular season.
The Reds got 20 points from Zach LeDay, but this fresh loss is putting more pressure not only on their coach, David Blatt, but also on some of the non-Greek players who could get replaced in the coming weeks.
Panathinaikos is not alone on top, as Peristeri also scored its sixth victory in as many games, downing Aris 68-62 at Thessaloniki on Sunday.
Promitheas Patras and AEK share the fourth spot of the table after important away wins on Saturday: Promitheas returned from Holargos with a 69-57 result and AEK edged out host Kymi 78-67 at Halkida.
Ifaistos Limnou claimed its first major scalp in its short history, downing visiting PAOK 80-79 in front of a capacity crowd at the Nikos Samaras Hall on Limnos island.
There were also important home wins for Panionios over winless Rethymno (88-72) and for Lavrio against Kolossos Rhodes (74-70).
