Panathinaikos overcame Prokom at the OAKA arena in game 10 and final game for the preliminary faze of the Euroleague by 75-53, ranking third in its group, seeing that Siena had no problem beating Nancy in France.
First few paces in the encounter for the “Greens” bared no resemblance to what was expected of them, leading Zeljko Obradovic to proceed to an entire 5 substitution, introducing Diamantidis, Jasikevicius, Sakota, Fotsis and Pekovic to the game, score at 3-7 in favor of the guests. In spite the fact that Panathinaikos could not find rhythm, it started to get away steadily from its opponent, reaching a double-digit distance from its rival, first time at 13’20’’ behind a bucket from Nikola Pekovic, score 24-14. The Montenegrin player alongside Jasikevicius and Sakota were the ones that provided their team with a few breathers as far as scoring went, Diamantidis chipped in 6 assists until half-time. The break saw the score-board reading 34-27 for the “clover”, featuring the Polish in the mood to fight at every play, notwithstanding their measurable roster absences.
Panathinaikos upped the ante and its lead mounted to a +17 figure (44-27, 23’) currently acting with Spanoulis, Nicholas, Sakota, Fotsis and Pekovic on court, summing up the third quarter slightly improved distance-wise (53-35). Prokom was worn-out, its turnovers and poor choices were not forgiven by Panathinaikos that managed to open the game, enhance its velocity and leave its guest trailing even further, all the way up to a +25 margin (67-42, 36’20’’), shortly before Spanoulis called it a wrap making two charity shots to formulate the game’s final score at 75-53.
Referees: Bachar(Israel)-Sahin(Turkey)-Lopes(Portugal)
Quarters: 14-10, 34-27, 53-35, 75-53
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Kecman 5, Spanoulis 4(3as), Perperoglou, Batiste 8, Fotsis 13(8rbs), Hatzivrettas, Nicholas 3, Tsartsaris 3, Diamantidis 4, Pekovic 8, Sakota 13, Jasikevicius 14
Asseco Prokom (Dedek): Archibong, Dylewicz 19, Nesovic 9, Zamojski 4, Burrell 9, Hrycaniuk 2, Sikora 5, Swietonski 3, Lapeta, Szczotka 1
*Prokom competed, missing three players, Logan, Ewing and Burke that were either facing injuries or sicknesses and had to remain in Poland. The same thing happened to the team’s coach Thomas Pacesas, who eventually did not travel to Athens, not even a day later as it was initially planned since he is facing a cold presenting a high fever.
