The Reds registered their eighth-straight victory against their rivals
Olympiacos holds off Panathinaikos to claim the Greek derby, 76-74

Olympiacos Piraeus extended its winning streak against Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens to eight games by edging past its rival 76-74 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium on Friday night. The hosts led for most of the game and were up by as many as 17 points (58-39) with 3:38 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Panathinaikos showed character and bounced back in the fourth, making it a one-possession game in the closing stages, but didn’t manage to complete the comeback.
Having also won away at Panathinaikos earlier this season, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague leader claimed the head-to-head advantage while also mathematically sealed a top-six spot, improving its record to 22-7. Meanwhile, the guests dropped to 18-11 in their pursuit of a top-four finish.
Sasha Vezenkov paced Olympiacos with 18 points and 9 rebounds. Nigel Williams-Goss scored 14 points before leaving the game in the third quarter with an injury. Kostas Papanikolaou netted 11 and Moustapha Fall added 10. For Panathinaikos, Konstantinos Mitoglou scored a team-high 18 points, Cedi Osman recorded 13, 9 of which were scored in the first quarter, Lorenzo Brown poured in 11 and Juancho Hernangomez had 10.
Game Videos
It was raining triples in the opening stages of the Greek derby, with Papanikolaou and Williams-Goss responding to a couple of Osman three-pointers by hitting one each before Vezenkov netted four straight points for a 10-6 lead. Williams-Goss added four points to his tally, extending Olympiacos’s early surge to 15-0 for an 18-6 cushion. Osman scored inside to end that run, but Fall netted at the other end for a 20-9 lead after 10 minutes.
Tibor Pleiss opened his account with a mid-range jumper, but Peters responded with one of his own and Papanikolaou drilled a triple that extended Olympiacos’s advantage to 25-11. Kostas Sloukas netted four straight points off the bench, but Shaquielle McKissic answered with a triple, 28-15. Vezenkov completed a four-point play, yet Panathinaikos responded with a 0-8 run fueled by Hernangomez, who brought the guests within 33-25. But Fall dunked before three points by Vezenkov gave Olympiacos a 38-27 cushion at halftime.
Mitoglou and Papanikolaou traded triples before Osman and Williams-Goss exchanged buckets inside, with Vezenkov scoring four straight points for a 47-32 lead. Sloukas responded with a three-point play, then buckets by Lorenzo Brown and Wenyen Gabriel cut the difference to 50-39. Luca Vildoza drained a corner triple before setting up Fall for a dunk that extend Olympiacos’s lead to 58-39. Yet, Brown nailed a three and a pair of transition buckets from Mitoglou and Kendrick Nunn brought Panathinaikos within 58-48. But Nikola Milutinov netted inside and Vildoza made 2 of 2 from the line to make it 62-50 heading into the closing quarter.
Saben Lee opened the fourth with four straight points – his first in an Olympiacos jersey – and Milutinov slam-dunked for a 68-54 cushion. Brown replied with four straight points and Nunn scored in transition to bring Panathinaikos within 70-59. Brown and Mitoglou drilled back-to-back triples before a couple of free throws from the latter slashed the deficit to 74-69. Fall slammed home a dunk, but Nunn nailed a triple and Mitoglou scored inside to make it 76-74 with 34 seconds left on the clock. Milutinov missed inside, but Sloukas couldn’t hit what would have been the game-winning triple as Olympiacos clinched the victory.