Panathinaikos is on the verge of a disastrous exit from the Euroleague Top 16 after suffering another defeat, this time to Barcelona.
Maroussi, meanwhile continued its impressive form, defeating Partizan in Athens, giving Giorgios Bartzokas’ side equal top spot alongside Barcelona and Partizan at the midway stage of the Euroleague.
In contrast to its main Athenian rival, Olympiakos got its third straight win, this time at the expense of Cibona Zagreb and now looks certain to qualify for the next round.
Barcelona (SPA) 83
Panathinaikos 71
The big Group E showdown in Barcelona last Thursday proved to be about one team, Regal FC Barcelona, as the hosts defeated defending Euroleague champion Panathinaikos 83-71.
The win lifts Barca to 2-1 and a share of a three-way tie with Partizan and Maroussi BC for first place in Group E.
The loss sees Panathinaikos drop to 0-3 and is surprisingly winless at the midway point of the Top 16. The two teams meet again in two weeks in Athens.
The hosts started with the upper hand thanks to hot three-point shooting and never looked back as in the second quarter, a surprise guest Roger Grimau stepped up and took Barca to the next level.
In the third quarter, the duo of Erazem Lorbek and Boni N’Dong launched Barca.
A couple of scoring runs in the last period allowed the Greens to trim the deficit, but they never really threatened the hosts’ win.
PAO’s Mike Batiste led all scorers with his 19 points and 7 boards, with Drew Nicholas and Nikola Pekovic adding 11 apiece for the visitors while Vassilis Spanoulis chipped in with 10.
PAO head coach Zeljko Obradovic blamed tough scheduling for his side’s failure to date in the Top 16.
He told reporters, “The true problem is the tough calendar because while Europe will be playing the National Cups, we will play two league games, later our Cup game against Olympiakos and then the Top 16 again. But that’s how it is and we can only work and fight for it.”
Maroussi 57
Partizan (SRB) 49
Maroussi continued its amazing run in the Top 16 after edging out Partizan by eight points in Athens.
Both teams now have 2-1 records going into the week-long break at the halfway point of the round, but will meet again for Week 4 in Belgrade, Serbia to decide which stays in first place.
Jamon Lucas paced the winners with 15 points. Jared Homan added 10 and 9 rebounds for Maroussi.
Lucas and Michalis Pelekanos fuelled an 11-0 run that allowed Maroussi to get its first double-digit lead, 13-2. Partizan held the hosts to just 2 points in the second quarter – tying an all-time Euroleague record in the process – and managed to get within 22-18 at halftime.
It was also the lowest combined first-half score ever in Euroleague history.
Things changed after the break, however, as Lucas and Stevan Nadjfeji allowed Maroussi to get a 44-37 margin at the end of the third quarter. Vranes tried to change things for Partizan but Lucas, Pat Calathes and outstanding defence helped the hosts to seal the outcome in the final 2 minutes.
Giorgios Bartzokas, Maroussi head-coach said after the match, “You cannot beat Partizan easily because they fight and they have Vranes, who can change the way of playing for any opponent.”
“We started the game very well, but we changed our game because of Vranes and we played thinking a lot instead of using our instinct,” he continued.”
“Then we found the path to the basket, but defence was the key point for our victory. Now we have two wins and one loss, but it is too early to think about the future.
The most important thing is to stay calm and humble, not to get crazy because of the successes. It is very dangerous to feel that you are a star and I don’t want to have such a situation.”
Olympiakos 78
Cibona Zagreb (CRO) 75
Olympiakos survived a tough test from Cibona Zagreb to record a 78-75 victory last Wednesday at the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus.
The Reds won their eighth straight game and 12th in a row at home to remain atop the Group H standings at 3-0.
The two teams meet again in two weeks in the Croatian capital in a must-win game for Cibona to keep any chances of reaching the playoffs.
The Reds, who were without All-Euroleague big man Ioannis Bourousis due to flu-like symptoms, needed six players scoring in double figures to offset Cibona.
Milos Teodosic drilled 5 three-pointer en route to 17 points and dished 5 assists to lead Olympiakos.
Nikola Vujcic came off the bench for 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Josh Childress posted 11 points and 9 rebounds.
Linas Kleiza scored all of his 10 points in the last 12 minutes, while Sofoklis Schortsanitis and Loukas Mavrokefalides also had 10 apiece, mostly in the first half.