Rice's 41 lifts Panathinaikos in Greek derby classic

Tyrese Rice netted 41 points in a Greek derby overtime classic, leading Panathinaikos OPAP Athens to a thrilling 99-93 win over its arch-rival Olympiacos Piraeus on Friday night. The win was a third consecutive for Panathinaikos, improving it to 7-4 on the season, while Olympiacos dropped to 5-7. Panathinaikos led for majority of the night paced by Rice, but the Reds kept coming back by making huge shots from long range. Olympiacos took the lead late in the regulation, but Georgios Papagiannis scored with 3.4 seconds left to send the game into extra session. A 7-0 run, capped by a runner from Rice, put the Greens up 96-91 in overtime, and they held on to that lead. Rice's career-high 41 points is tied for the second-best scoring output in EuroLeague this century, as he knocked down a club record 8 of 16 triples. Nick Calathes had 14 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks, DeShaun Thomas scored 13, and Ioannis Papapetrou had 11 points in victory. Vassilis Spanoulis paced Olympiacos with 18 points, Brandon Paul netted 17 on 5-for-8 three-point shooting. Nikola Milutinov collected a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Wade Baldwin had 10 in a losing effort.

Olympiacos had a good start with Kostas Papanikolaou knocking down a three, and Milutinov with a pair of dunks from Spanoulis feeds to make it 8-11. Papapetrou answered, scoring 6 points for the hosts, and helping them to an 18-17 lead after 10 minutes. Rice got himself going with a three-point play, then scored 8 more points, including two triples, to make it 33-24. Spanoulis and Milutinov got Olympiacos right back in it, with Spanoulis capping a 0-8 run with a three-pointer, but Dino Mitoglou kept Panathinaikos in front by dominating inside on the offensive end, before Rice hit a last-second triple to make it 46-39 at halftime. A pair of jumpers from Thomas extended it to double digits for the first time in the opening minute of the third quarter, and a triple-plus-foul from Jimmer Fredette made it 54-41, the largest lead of the night. But big men Milutinov and Willie Reed kept the visitors in touch, followed by Paul and Sasha Vezenkov hitting three-pointers. Baldwin had a pair of baskets, including a buzzer-beater to cut it to 63-61 after three quarters, and Paul hit a triple to open the fourth and put the Reds in front 63-64. Rice stepped up once again, hitting three triples and stringing together 11 points in little over 2 minutes to restore a 74-66 lead for the hosts. But Olympiacos was not going away, with Paul and Spanoulis each knocking down a three-pointer during a 2-12 run that restored the visitors' lead, 76-78 with exactly 5:00 to go. Paul and Rice traded three-pointers, before Will Cherry's triple put Olympiacos up 81-84. After Calathes hit a floater, there were split free throws on both ends of the floor before Papagiannis banked a shot in low post with 3.4 to go, sending the game into overtime. The teams traded blows again in the extra session, and Spanoulis made a runner to put the Reds up 89-91. But Panathinakos scored the next 7 points, and prevailed for a thrilling win.

Rice goes 41

A week after Shane Larkin broke the modern era EuroLeague record by scoring 49 points, Tyrese Rice followed it up netting 41, tied for second most this century. He became only the ninth man to score at least 40 points in a single game, and also set a new Panathinaikos club record, bettering the 39 points Ioannis Papapetrou scored earlier this season.

New three-point mark

Rice also set a new club record with 8 three-pointers, firing 16 attempts. The rest of his teammates shot just 2-for-17 from long-range, including Nick Calathes going 0-for-9.

Perfect care of the ball

Panathinaikos finished with just 5 turnovers, tied for a season low. The Greens were especially impressive in that department in the first half when they had no turnovers.

Brave Reds' effort

Olympiacos outrebounded the hosts 48-41, tying for the fourth most rebounds in club history. The Reds also dished 20 assists, second most this season, but still came up just short.

Next up

Next week in Round 13, both teams will be on the road on Spanish soil. Olympiacos will visit Real Madrid, while Panathinaikos travels to face FC Barcelona.