Stadium: ΟΑΚΑ
Tickets: 10000
Panathinaikos started the new year the right way but had to really sweat it out until beating Partizan by 67-66. PAO seemed to be under the holiday season influence and did not play up to their potential; as a result they came close to their first defeat in OAKA but Zeliko Obradovic and his players can just keep the 2 points and the first win for 2008. Panathinaikos did not play well in the first half as they started off with many turnovers and missed shots. They took a 10-2 lead in the 5th but then a bit of nervousness in offense along with the good job of Kecman for the Serbians allowed Partizan to come close to 14-13 in the 8th. The entrance of Vassilis Spanoulis and Frangiskos Alvertis gave PAO a better tempo, the defense improved and a quick 12-2 run brought the margin up to 10 points (26-16) at the half of the second period. Nevertheless, Kecman kept on scoring and keeping his team in the game. The first half ended with PAO ahead by 4 (33-29). Panathinaikos were explosive in the beginning of the second half. Led by Becirovic and Winston and with tight defense, PAO run a 15-4 series and took a 48-33 lead in the 24th giving the impression that the game could be over. Partizan though came back into the game thanks to Kecman and Pekovic and won rebounds, cutting the margin to 59-53 in the 30th. The zone defense of the Serbians during the last period caused many problems to the home team, losing their concentration and allowing Partizan to come to within one point (67-66) 18 seconds before the end. Indeed they had the chance to win the game had they taken advantage of Jasikevicius’ turnover 3 seconds before the end! Pekovic missed the shot though as Diamantidis obstructed him and Panathinaikos got one more win – even a stressful one.
