Nick Calathes

Panathinaikos and Olympiakos had two very different defeats on Thursday and Friday, as the Greens suffered a bad 31-point loss at home to CSKA Moscow, while the Reds fought hard before succumbing to leader Anadolu Efes in Turkey by 12.

CSKA beat Panathinaikos 97-66 on Thursday in Athens in what hardly seemed to be the battle between the fifth and the sixth at the table.

Panathinaikos tried to match Real Madrid in Spain on Monday but its host was a class apart and won easily 96-78 in the end, at a game played four days earlier for the Euroleague's 26th round.

Olympiakos scored an important road win at Valencia, its seventh in the Euroleague this season, while Panathinaikos was unable to follow up its triumph at CSKA Moscow with another away victory at Armani Milano.

Both Panathinaikos and Olympiakos surrendered handsome first-half leads to lose on the road in their Euroleague games, as their hosts, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Red Star Belgrade respectively, proved more resilient and resolute.

Maccabi beat Panathinaikos 88-79 on Thursday despite the Greens leading by up to 18 points early in the second period in Israel (31-13).

Panathinaikos and Olympiakos had to dig deep to score precious home wins at the start of another very demanding week in the Euroleague, with the Greens downing Fenerbahce behind closed doors and the Reds needing overtime to defeat Khimki.

Turkish basketball powerhouse Anadolu Efes maintained their lead in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague over 74-68 win against Zalgiris Kaunas in Lithuania.

The EuroLeague title contenders Anadolu Efes grasped the away victory as German center Tibor Pleiss and Serbian star Vasilije Micic scored 18 points each.

Peristeri upset Panathinaikos for a second year in a row, shattering its unbeaten record in the Basket League and showing it is the favorite for finishing second in the regular season.

The excruciating schedule of the Euroleague, that had Panathinaikos face Barcelona last Friday, and then host Fenerbahce this Tuesday before traveling to Israel to play Maccabi on Thursday.

Panathinaikos produced an important road win at Zalgiris Kaunas for the Euroleague on Tuesday, while Olympiakos let its lead at Bayern slip through its hands to lose in Munich.

Panathinaikos defeated the Euroleague's bottom team, Valencia, in Athens on Friday after Olympiakos suffered one more home reverse, to Anadolu Efes on Thursday.

The Greens are on a positive record for the first time in this season's Euroleague (4-3) after downing Valencia 91-80 at the Olympic Sports Hall.

Panathinaikos reached a 2-2 record in the Euroleague beating Zenit in St Petersburg on Thursday, while Olympiakos suffered a third reverse in four games going down at Baskonia on Friday.

A more consistent Panathinaikos secured its first road win of the season, beating Zenit 89-79 after leading for most of the night in Russia.