Greens lose to Alba and sack Pedoulakis

Panathinaikos’s overtime loss to Alba Berlin for the Euroleague in Athens has cost coach Argyris Pedoulakis his job, while Olympiakos scored a much-needed home win against Zalgiris Kaunas.

Four days after the shock elimination from the Greek Cup to Promitheas Patras, Panathinaikos went down 106-105 in the second overtime to Alba at the Olympic Sports Hall on Thursday for its fourth loss in eight games.

With five players inexplicably playing almost the entire game, the Greek team was visibly too tired to claim victory over a theoretically inferior opponent that managed to put a remarkable 58 points past the Greek champion in the first half.

Much as Ioannis Papapetrou tried – almost single-handedly – to win the game for the Greens, scoring a Euroleague career-high 39 points in 49 minutes, Alba fended off the hosts’ efforts and got the win it deserved for the collective effort it made in Athens.

On Friday Panathinaikos predictably announced the dismissal of Pedoulakis, adding that his assistant Giorgos Vovoras will replace him as of the league game against Ionikos Nikaias.

Olympiakos scored its third win in eight matches, defeating Zalgiris 83-74 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, regaining some calm after two bad losses to Maccabi and Anadolu Efes.

Zalgiris, Olympiakos’ jinx team in the last few years, was a shadow of its usual self despite leading for most of the first half it surrendered to the Reds in the second on a particularly good night for the Piraeus team.

With 68 percent in two-pointers, Olympiakos was in command after half-time and even led by up to 13 points (77-64) during the last quarter, offering some respite to its fans after recent losses.

Vassilis Spanoulis registered 16 points and seven assists, while Nikola Milutinov and Brandon Paul made 14 points apiece.