Efes beats Olympiakos on the rebounds

The Euroleague is increasingly suffering from Covid-19 postponements, one of them being this week’s Zenit vs Panathinaikos match, while Olympiakos did play but suffered a home reverse to Efes Pilsen on Friday.

The Reds lost 84-79 to their Turkish visitors at the Peace and Friendship Stadium to slump to a 3-3 record.

Olympiakos trailed Efes for most of the game in Piraeus, suffering particularly in the rebounds: The Istanbul team had eight more in the game (31 against Olympiakos’ 23), which translated in eight more shots in the match, making the difference between the two sides.

Hassan Martin scored 11 for the hosts, who only got 31 points on the night from their five Greek players.

Two positive tests among the Panathinaikos squad put off its Thursday match in Russia against Zenit, without any further consequences for the Greek champion that also owes a game against Villeurbanne.

It remains to be seen how long the competition can go on for with two or three games put off per week, as more and more European countries are reverting to lockdowns…

After last year’s abandoned tournament, a second year lost could be fatal for the Euroleague.