Irresistible Greens crush the Reds in the second half

Panathinaikos stepped up its game spectacularly in the second half of its big Euroleague derby with Olympiakos to win the first all-Greek clash of the season 93-80 at home on Friday.

The game was a hot affair at the filled-to-capacity Olympic Sports Hall in Athens, with the two teams swapping the lead in the first quarter before Olympiakos edged ahead by up to nine points (44-35) thanks to a great three-point shooting rate and its dominance in offensive rebounds.

The absence of injured Janis Strelnieks was more or less offset by Keith Langford very early four fouls, including a technical. The Reds had Janis Timma score five triples without fail, but the Greens reserved their reaction for the second half.

After the 48-41 half-time score in the visitors' favor, the hosts came out with a far tighter defense, a recovered desire for challenges up and down the court and...