A few weeks ago we wrote about the mediocre start to the season for Olympiacos and Panathinaikos. Olympiacos was 2-3 at the time, following a crushing defeat to Bayern Munch (who, let’s face it, is at least for now a quality opponent) and their next three matches were the Real Madrid, Barcelona and Panathinaikos for the first Greek match. EuroLeague Season Derby. And let’s not forget that Bayern Munich’s defeat was followed by a league defeat to Panathinaikos the following weekend.

Many words have been used to describe fanbases such as Olympiacos, but patience is not one of them. Coach Georgios Bartzokas had his back against the wall, but he and his players reacted accordingly. They beat Madrid by 10 – raising questions about the future of Chus Mateo – and Barcelona by 19. In both games, Thomas Walkup started to find opportunities as a goalscorer and, more importantly, Evan Fournier started to play like the star they hired him to be.

Winning at OAKA would be far from easy, but Olympiacos had confidence, they spent the last week remembering who they were and what they were capable of and carried that into the Greek derby. To win, Bartzokas relied on old tricks and new ones. He left club legend Kostas Papanikolaou out of the starting lineup and replaced him with Luca Vildoza. The Argentine guard won the EuroLeague championship with Panathinaikos last season despite constant public feuds with head coach Ergin Ataman and now had the opportunity to give Olympiacos more offensive power to start the match – a necessity against the firepower of Panathinaikos.

The change worked, Olympiacos got off to a good start and forced early substitutions with Jerian Grant and Lorenzo Brown getting quick hooks for Juancho Hernangomez and Kostas Sloukas. Those substitutes helped, but Moustapha Fall offered a physical presence early on that Panathinaikos couldn’t match. Ataman replaced Dinos Mitoglou at center to take a five-point approach and try to make life more difficult for Fall on the defensive end, and that’s when Olympiacos turned to what made of his elite defense last season: changing all the ball screens.

The change caused some delays, but it worked in Olympiacos’ favor. Panathinaikos were so desperate to get the ball to Mathias Lessort that they disrupted any attacking rhythm. Ball movement stopped at entry points, Olympiacos staged assists, and by the time Panathinaikos looked to reset the shot clock, it was often under six seconds. Panathinaikos didn’t score a field goal in the second quarter until just over five minutes remained. Olympiacos took the lead and drained the energy from OAKA.

Panathinaikos adjusted at halftime. They got back to what they do best with their guards attacking the rim and opening the game. They scored 33 points in the third quarter, but the Olympiacos offense held on, scoring 30 thanks to two threes from Vildoza, and Fournier starting with seven points.

It was only a five-point game heading into the fourth and as Panathinaikos pulled every lever possible to turn the tide back in their favor, they were met with answers from Walkup, Vezenkov and Fournier. Former Olympiacos legend Sloukas has been the man in the bag for Panathinaikos since joining them in the summer of 2023, but on this night Olympiacos targeted him. They posted him with Walkup, who, while not a big offensive threat, is a good passer who has now kept Fournier and Sasha Vezenkov away from him. Olympiacos scored four consecutive field goals.

The game was tied at 85 with just over two minutes to play, thanks to a Fournier moonshot over Cedi Osman and two free throws from Lessort. Fournier took over and gave Olympiacos exactly what they lacked last season. A perimeter offensive threat who could bail them out in late shooting situations. Fournier scored five of the next seven points for Olympiacos’ 7-0 run that would seal the deal.

This Greek derby was everything the season was expected to go into, and with Bartzokas and Olympiacos winning three big games in a row, it’s clear there won’t be any significant changes. The defeat ends any momentum for Panathinaikos, and Olympiacos appears to be just getting started.