Panathinaikos played in its rhythm, was effective in defense, the team used correctly the fouls and managed to edge PAOK in Thessaloniki, 82-71. Greens had five players in double digits with Stephane Lasme leading the way (20), while they had 8/8 fast breaks.
PAOK was the first to score with George Bogris, but Panathinaikos answered back. Diamantidis and Ukic at first and then Maciulis led to5-11 (3'20''), with Lasme taking over to make it 10-15 (5'20''). PAOK replied, Bogris stole the ball, Tsairelis scored to give the lead back to their team (16-15). A quick 5-0 by Diamantidis and Ukic led to 16-20, while the Croatian guard marked a 6 point margin (16-22, 7'50''). Vaggelis Margaritis and Mark Payne cut the deficit to 2 points (20-22, 9'45''), before Zack Wright leads to 20-24 (10').
Panathinaikos knew what was needed to move ahead: Getting stronger in defense. Maciulis led to +8 (22-30, 12' & 24-32, 12'30''). Greens pressed the ball and managed to get some easy baskets on the fast break. The margin got to double digits (24-34, 12'53'') by Wright, while James Gist capped a 2-10 to make it to +12 points (24-36, 13'40''). Mark Payne offered solutions to PAOK in offense (30-36, 16'20''). Antonis Fotsis was there to help Panathinaikos in offense with a three point shot. Greens used a 7-0 (30-43, 17'40''), while Stephane Lasme made it 31-45 at the half time.
Panathinaikos raised the bar (36-51, 23'). Bogris cut the lead to 8 points (45-53, 26'). Diamantidis found Lasme in the air it two occasions to lead to 45-57 (26'45''). Fotsis made it a 20 point game (52-72, 33'45''), while Loukas Mavrokefalidis was essential both in defense and offense. The biggest margin in the game was marked by Zack Wright (56-78, 36'10'', +22), only for the game to be sealed with the final 71-82.
Referees: Gontas, Stamatopoulos, Panagiotou
Quarters: 20-24, 31-45, 50-61, 71-82
PAOK (Markopoulos): Payne 8, Cooper 9, Charalampidis 3, Tsochlas 2, Vucicevic, Tsairelis 10, Dedas 6, Margaritis 11, Kalles 3, Bogris 14, Kaselakis 5, Liapis
Panathinaikos (Alvertis): Bramos 2, Curry 6, Fotsis 6 (2st), Ukic 10, Lasme 20, Mavrokefalidis 10 (5r), Diamantidis 10 (7a), Gist 4, Pappas, Jankovic, Maciulis 4, Wright 10 (2bs)
