Yiannis Sfairopoulos

Olympiakos and Panathinaikos produced two very convincing performances and secured important wins at the start of a double week in the Euroleague, as the Reds edged out host Maccabi in Tel Aviv and the Greens dismissed Villeurbanne in Athens.

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).

Another week of twin bad losses for Greek teams in the Euroleague saw them slip further at the standings, as Olympiakos lost at Maccabi and Panathinaikos suffered at the hands of Fenerbahce in Turkey.

Kymi very nearly upset Olympiakos, while PAOK along with Promitheas scored hard-fought wins as the first round of the Basket League play-offs began on Wednesday with three very close encounters and a strolling by champion Panathinaikos.

Olympiakos and Panathinaikos extended their winning streak further this week to remain at the top four of the Euroleague table, as the Reds are joint top with CSKA Moscow and the Greens in fourth.

On Thursday Olympiakos defeated host Valencia 72-64 in Spain for its eighth win in 10 games.

Champion Panathinaikos is already looking good for finishing top of the table in the regular season of the Basket League, as on the championship's opener it defeated archrival Olympiakos by three (71-68) away from home on Sunday.

Olympiakos will face Fenerbahce in Sunday's Euroleague final, after the Turks beat Real Madrid in the second semi on Friday, and the Reds' coach Yiannis Sfairopoulos said on Saturday his team is the underdog, against a quality side that is in great form and plays at home.

Olympiakos and Panathinaikos strolled to easy home wins in the Basket League over the weekend ahead of a very demanding week in the Euroleague with two fixtures for each one of them within 48 hours. The win of the weekend belonged to Kolossos though.

By George Georgakopoulos

Olympiakos produced its best away performance so far this season to defeat host Barcelona 76-63 on Friday and snatch the home advantage in the Euroleague play-offs.

The Reds have now tied the series at 1-1 and are taking it to Piraeus for two games next week, expecting to win the best-of-five series in front of their own fans.

By George Georgakopoulos

Olympiakos won the first league derby with Panathinaikos to get on top of the Basket League on Saturday evening, which also saw several other very close games.