Nigel Williams

Panathinaikos and Olympiakos secured precious road wins in Italy and Serbia respectively and have boosted their chances for the optimum finish to the regular season of the Euroleague, with two rounds of games left to play.

On Thursday Olympiakos came from behind to defeat Partizan in Belgrade with a 74-69 score.

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.

The Greek basketball giants succumbed to their Spanish hosts in the second set of Euroleague games for the week, as Olympiakos succumbed to holder Real Madrid on Thursday and Panathinaikos went down at Barcelona on Friday.