[Intime]
Olympiakos and Panathinaikos scored hard-fought home wins for the Euroleague on Tuesday, at the start of another double week.
The Reds registered their fourth win in a row (all of them in Greece), this time downing Villeurbanne 94-92 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium.
The Piraeus team actually survived a major scare from its depleted and unfancied visitor that led by up to 14 points in the second half (63-49), having notched up 50 points in the first half.
However the experience and quality of the hosts made amends for their numerous turnovers, allowing them to win by the skin of their teeth in the end, as the French missed their final shot that would have taken the game to overtime.
Sasha Vezenkov scored 21 and Evan Fournier made 20 points for the Greeks.
Panathinaikos also came from behind against Maccabi Tel Aviv, but won in a slightly easier fashion, with a 93-87 final score at the Olympic Sports Hall.
The Israeli team led by 12 points (47-35) after 18 minutes, but the holders worked harder in defense after that and started closing the gap until they finally went ahead midway through the final quarter, never to look back again.
Kendrick Nunn paced the champions with 21 points and Mathias Lessort added 18.
Both the Reds and the Greens have a 6-3 record.