Giorgos Bartzokas

Home advantage told for Olympiakos and Panathinaikos this week in the Euroleague, with the Reds beating Anadolu Efes and the Greens outscoring Baskonia.

Olympiakos was a class above Efes on Thursday and deserved its 18-point triumph (75-57) at home in front of a capacity crowd at the Peace and Friendship Stadium.

Sergio Llull's basket three seconds from the end broke the Reds' hearts in the Euroleague final at Kaunas, as Real Madrid beat Olympiakos 79-78 on Sunday to win its 11th European crown.

The week after the Greek league derby, that saw Olympiakos edge out Panathinaikos away, ended in both of them losing easily in the Euroleague.

Olympiakos went down 90-75 at Partizan Belgrade on Friday to stay with 21 wins in 30 matches.

Olympiakos and Panathinaikos had to work hard to score home wins for the Euroleague on Friday, against opposition that in other seasons would not have troubled them so much.

Olympiakos announced on Sunday the return of Giorgos Bartzokas to its bench after the dismissal of caretaking Kestutis Kemzura.

Bartzokas - the first Greek coach ever to win the Euroleague, with Olympiakos in 2013 - was presented by the Olympiakos presidents, Giorgos and Panagiotis Angelopoulos.

Panathinaikos looks like slipping out of contention for a play-off spot in the Euroleague after its loss at Zalgiris, while Olympiakos produced a widely anticipated home win over Khimki to stay in the running for a top-four finish.

The tough week in the Euroleague has started triumphantly for the Greek teams, as Panathinaikos trounced hitherto joint leader Khimki in Athens and Olympiakos downed European champion Fenerbahce in Turkey.

On Tuesday the Greens eclipsed Khimki 93-65 at the Olympic Sports Hall with an outstanding all-around performance that gave the Russian team no chance on the night.

By George Georgakopoulos

Olympiakos scored its first win under new coach Yiannis Sfairopoulos on Monday, beating promoted AEK away from home, as the Piraeus club is hoping the bad start to the season under coach Giorgos Bartzokas and caretaker Milan Tomic will soon be a distant memory.

By George Georgakopoulos

Olympiakos coach Giorgos Bartzokas reportedly tendered his resignation on Friday in the aftermath of the Cup loss to Panathinaikos on Thursday. He will be temporarily replaced by his assistant, Milan Tomic.

 Olympiakos beats Panathinaikos 69-64 away

By George Georgakopoulos

Olympiakos has taken a huge step toward returning to the Greek throne after defeating Panathinaikos 69-64 away on Thursday to get a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five final series and break a 28-game-long jinx that had prevented it from beating the Greens at the Olympic Sports Hall for the playoffs.