BARCELONA (Euroleague) - Real Madrid and CSKA Moscow cruised to victories in the opening games of their Turkish Airlines Euroleague Quarter-Finals on Wednesday, and defending champions Olympiacos were also winners.

The most intense battle in the first round of the play-offs was played on Tuesday with Barcelona edging Panathinaikos in overtime, 72-70.

That best-of-five series resumes on Thursday night in Barcelona.

Panathinaikos almost went into Game 2 with a valuable win.

The Greens defended hard, shot well from long range (9 of 22, 40%) and ran the pick-and-roll to near perfection, with a 30-year-old Gabon international Stephane Lasme catching pass after pass from veteran point guard Dimitris Diamantidis and scoring inside.

Lasme, who finished with 14 points, played in Spain with Blusens Monbus last season.

Instead of springing an upset, though, the Greens left the Palau Blaugrana upset.

Among the most frustrated was Panathinaikos coach Argiris Pedoulakis, whose post-game remarks were carried by the Greek media and prompted the Euroleague to issue a strongly worded letter to the club.

Euroleague Basketball President and CEO, Jordi Bertomeu, wrote to club president Dimitris Giannakopoulos and said: "Unfortunately, in the last few days the media are publishing statements from you and other Panathinaikos representatives that are likely to create an aggressive environment in the next games. Our obligation, and yours, is to avoid this situation at all costs.

"For this reason, I request that you take all necessary organisational and security measures to avoid any incidents in the remaining Playoff games. I also request that protection and respect are guaranteed for players, coaches, referees, management and fans."

Barca coach Xavier Pascual expects the Greens to be difficult opponents for the remainder of the series.

"We have to focus and play basketball from the very beginning," Pascual said.

The Greeks had a 21-11 advantage after the first quarter on Tuesday.

"Panathinaikos is a great defensive team and they work really well in that aspect," Pascual said.

"Every detail is important."

On Wednesday, Real Madrid played as if they had a hangover from their defeat at Valencia on Sunday, with Maccabi Tel Aviv taking a 23-14 advantage at the end of the first frame.

The wheels came off for the Israeli team in the second quarter when they scored just four points, with Real going to half-time on top, 38-27.

Real pressed home the advantage in the second half and prevailed, 79-53.

Spain international Sergio Rodriguez finished with 10 points and 10 assists and Real shot 11 of 22 from the arc while out-rebounding Maccabi, 44-28.

Greece international Georgios Printezis erupted for 26 points as Olympiacos won 67-62 against Anadolu Efes. Printezis was 11 of 18 from the floor, including four of seven from three-point land.

CSKA Moscow beat Caja Laboral 89-78 in their opener.

The Russians had a 50-35 stranglehold on the contest by half-time.

CSKA, Olympiacos and Real Madrid each host the second games of their respective series on Friday.

FIBA