Panathinaikos set great foundations towards gaining first place in its Top16 group thanks to a fantastic second half alongside an ideal fourth quarter in Spain, were at the Martin Carpena Arena it dominated Unicaja Malaga by 81-69 in Euroleague Top16 game 2. Amongst the positive factors for the “Greens”, Drew Nicholas’ big appearance combined with great collaborations between the players, a fact that was all too obvious on court, maybe to its greatest extent for the first time this season.
Carlos Cabezas opened the score sinking a three to 3-0, but Unicaja Malaga’s next basket came from the same player in the same manner after a 4’30’’ minute draught, with an unstoppable Panathinaikos filling the duration of this Spanish dry period with a top notch presentation, getting to lead by 11-3 (3’50’’) praised to strong defense, players assisting each other, choosing wisely in offence. Malaga fought back more than effectively, taking advantage mostly of three-point shot honesty. Burying 5-out of-6 triples up to 7’45’’ into the game it got round to lead by 17-13 and moments after behind a lay-up of Berni Rodriguez got to 19-13 (8’10’’), the first quarter ending 19-15, Drew Nicholas being the culprit, getting to the basket for the second time in the encounter and the Spaniards having already undertaken also zone defense.
The game balanced-out in the second period. Panathinaikos found solutions speeding-up the rhythm, Vassilis Spanoulis drawing one foul after the other from his opponents, Malaga though still firing well from beyond the arc. It was actually its only weapon, accumulating the cozy 9-out of-12 threes up to minute 18, seeing that the “Greens” were doing a great job at closing the lanes toward the hoop and giving their rivals a hard time in acting, whilst at frontcourt often being superb at circulating the ball. Zeljko Obradovic had tried quite a few combinations weather short or tall, was happy to see his team commit only 4 turnovers in part one and have 73% in twos and 5-out of-11 threes, things being almost equalized in rebounding (11-to-10 in favor of the hosts). The element that stood amongst Panathinaikos and the game’s reigns was Unicaja’s validation from down town range, Spanish triples’ stats at intermission 9-out of-14 (64%). Archibald from the hosts and Perperoglou – Kecman on the guests’ side had already been charged with three personal fouls each.
When Dimitris Diamantidis decided to dial himself long distance, Panathinaikos flew ahead by 5 (51-56, 25’25’’), the game’s offensive pace having slowed down, as had the Spaniards three point felicity, frequently at 0-out of-3 attempts. It was time to try out their inside game. Acting mainly with Marcus Haislip they tied (56-56, 27’45’’), only for Omar Cook to provide the lead, scoring on the fast break (58-56, 28’). Drew Nicholas pulled a three-point jumper to upset the hosts and put Panathinaikos back on top (58-59, 28’45’’), third quarter ending with both teams even (61-61).
Fourth quarter had Panathinaikos written all over it. Defense set the tone, Nicholas got game, maybe for the first time this season in an official encounter on the “clover” roster, Spanoulis organized and dished immensely (7 perfect passes), Jasikevicius gathered many buckets, Pekovic ruled at rebounding (notwithstanding his injury that momentarily startled the “Greens”) resulting to the Spaniards being down by 13 (63-76, 37’30’’). Panathinaikos pinned down its rival, making it get no field goal until minute 38 in the final quarter, allowing it to score exclusively from charity position (4 free shots). The final 69-81 was sealed by a dreamy buzzer beater trifecta, unleashed from Death Valley distance, shot by guarded Drew Nicholas, player then on to be smothered by teammates’ hugs, all celebrating a great victory, that put an end to Unicaja’s 23 home game winning streak.
Referees: Brazauskas – Belosevic - Latisevs
Quarters: 19-15, 45-44, 61-61, 69-81
Unicaja Malaga (Reneses): Cook 11, Gomis, Rodriguez 12, Welsch 4, Cabezas 8, Ndong 4, Gabriel, Jimenez 4, Archibald 2, Kelati 10, Haislip 14
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Kecman 3, Spanoulis 9 (7as), Perperoglou, Batiste 7, Fotsis, Nicholas 19 (4/8 threes), Diamantidis 10, Pekovic 15 (7rbs), Jasikevicius 18
Quotes
Zeljko Obradovic: “It was a good game from our side. It was an important step in the tournament for qualification to the next round, but it is imperative to continue with the same determination in all games to come. We started out concentrated and highly motivated and although Malaga was very lucky at the basket we continued the same way. We played exquisite defense in the second part. And here I would like to make a small reference to Fotsis. He was the only player who competed all 20 minutes of the second half and was the key of this supreme defensive presentation. We also played very clever offense. We capitalized on team work and congratulations to my players for the win. We send a message to no one with this victory. We must continue in the same fashion and derive wins from the next games too. The only thing I would remedy from this game is that I would have liked to have played smarter in the first half”.
*Weather Nikola Pekovic’ injury is serious or not is something that will be determined tomorrow. He experienced some discomfort in a tendon in his thigh.
