Red triumph, Green drama in Euroleague

Game 1 of the Euroleague play-offs saw Olympiakos make the most of its home advantage to defeat Anadolu Efes on Wednesday, after Panathinaikos squandered a 16-point lead to suffer a potentially damaging loss to Fenerbahce in Athens on Tuesday.

The Reds won 87-72 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium thanks to a consistent performance throughout the game that gave the Turks of Efes no chance of making their way back into the game after the strong start of the Greeks (18-11 after the first quarter).

Olympiakos had five players score between 10 and 14 points, led by Vangelis Mantzaris who seems to have rediscovered his long-range shooting ability with four three-pointers in eight.

Besides the energy the Greek champion had in scoring, it showed great agility in rebounds too, collecting 47 against Efes's 31, in what was a great all-around performance for the...