Zeljko Obradovic

Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were unable to meet the challenge of their second games this week and suffered painful Euroleague losses - in different circumstances.

The Greens lost 91-73 at Partizan Belgrade on Thursday in one of their worst performances this season, to an opponent whose coach (Zeljko Obradovic) knows them very well.

BELGRADE - Serbian basketball coach Dejan Milojevic, who died in the US last month aged 46, was buried at Belgrade's New Bezanija Cemetery on Monday.

Milojevic died in Salt Lake City on January 17 after suffering a heart attack before an NBA game between Utah Jazz and his club Golden State Warriors, where he was an assistant coach.

Panathinaikos and Olympiakos scored emphatic home victories in the Euroleague this week ahead of their head-to-head on Monday for the Greek league.

First up Olympiakos defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday with an 89-72 score in Piraeus for its 12th win in 22 games.

Both Panathinaikos and Olympiakos suffered defeats on the road on Thursday for the Euroleague, probably not doing themselves any justice for their efforts in Belgrade and Monaco respectively.

The Greens went down 92-87 at Partizan in overtime, after wasting a 10-point led in the last few minutes of regulation.

Partizan defeated Red Star in a turbulent Euroleague derby in a dramatic final 88:86.
The black and whites dropped +15 in the first half, and then trailed by 11 points about five minutes before the end of the match.
It was then that Obradovi performed his "magic" and turned the situation around with a move he had not made in the current season.

BELGRADE - Partizan Belgrade defeated Spanish outfit Fuenlabrada 93-63 (24-13, 26-15, 23-13, 20-22) in a basketball friendly at Belgrade's Tasmajdan open air stadium on Wednesday evening.

Greek basketball champion Panathinaikos is looking for its next coach for when the action resumes in Greece and in Europe, after the departure of Rick Pitino back to the US.

The legendary coach is returning to the NCAA, as he has just signed a five-year contract with Iona, starting this fall.

Fenerbahçe Beko on Feb. 16 won the 2020 Solgar Vitamin Turkish Cup, defeating Darüşşafaka Tekfen 74-71 in the basketball tournament's final. 

The 2020 champions' trio -- French point guard Nando De Colo, Italian forward Luigi Datome and Greek playmaker Kostas Sloukas -- scored 15 points each.

Olympiakos consolidated itself as joint leader of the Euroleague table with its win over Khimki in Piraeus on Thursday, but it was Panathinaikos's comeback triumph over European champion Fenerbahce that stole the show on Friday.

A "healthy" team at the start of the Euroleague playoffs was vital to Fenerbahçe's Euroleague title, coach Zeljko Obradovic has said.

"Before the start of the playoffs, we finally had healthy players. We started working the way we like to do," Obradovic said in an interview with state-run Anadolu Agency.