Greek A1 top teams stay dominant after Round 12
Round 12 of the Greek A1 regular season is now in the books and two teams have set themselves apart from the rest of the league. The two Titans that are currently dominating the league standings are Olympiacos S.F.P. Pireus, which still has to taste defeat in domestic action at 12-0; and Panathinaikos Athens, which is one game behind the league leader with their 11-1 record. The next closest team to Panathinaikos is AEK Athens which sports a 9-3 slate.
Both Olympiacos and Panathinaikos cleared Round 12 with convincing and dominant wins over their guests. Olympiacos crushed Promitheas 90-63. The game was well under control by the hosts from the get-go and they ran away with the easy win as early as the first half. Promitheas struggled to keep up and they could only watch as Olympiacos’ lead grew larger and larger with each passing quarter.
Panathinaikos destroyed AGOR 116-83, in what would be the highest scoring game of the round. Panathinaikos rained down three-pointers on AGOR all game long. Veteran big man Ioannis Bourousis was just unstoppable for Panathinaikos. He ended up exploding for a game-high 25 points. He was 5-of-5 from 2-point range and a clean 7-of-7 from the line. He led five other teammates to score in double figures. Their shots just kept on falling, despite AGOR’s efforts to stem the tide of buckets.
Unfortunately for AEK Athens, they stumbled and lost at the hands of Kolossos H Hotels 86-73, in what would be one of the more critical upsets in Round 12. Now at 7-5, Kolossos gets a boost in the Greek A1 standings. They move up to sixth place, just a stone’s throw away from a coveted Top 4 position.
Aris Thessaloniki holds on to that aforementioned fourth spot with a 98-77 win at home over Lavrio. Aris dominated on the glass and it helped them dictate the tempo of the game. Vasilelos Kavvadas blew up for a game-high 20 points, on some efficient shooting from close to medium range.
Which teams can challenge the reign of Olympiacos and Panathinaikos? The top organizations play in international competitions and fatigue could play a factor further down the road. For now, they remain Gods on Olympus, looking down on the rest of the league.