Panathinaikos reached its goal: To take the first step towards Berlin. In spite of Dimitris Diamantidis’ absence, it dominated on court, found the solutions and the collaborations it longed for, technical staff and players got their wish for a “full house” and the “clover” snatched the win by 90-85 from Montepaschi Siena getting to a convenient 1-0 in the line of the Euroleague play-offs. It is only two victories shy of Berlin F4.
Feisty defense and good connections was the combination that allowed Panathinaikos to enjoy the upper hand in the encounter. Obradovic and his boys had pre-announced it and did not remain in words. They were all ready to put their heart and soul into the game, at both ends of the court. Spanoulis, Nicholas, Perperoglou, Tsartsaris and Batiste faced McIntyre, Kaukenas, Sato, Stonerook and Eze, Pianigiani’s choice for tip-off. Drew Nicholas’ initial 3-0 was answered quickly from the Italians, who even managed to lead 4-6 at 3’25’’.
From that moment on though, the stadium seemed to lean towards Panathinaikos’ side. Siena’s creativity having been confided immensely (10-to-3 assists at 15’) and its players not lucky at all at the basket neither from thee-point range (3/10 threes in part 1), neither closer to the hole (10/25 in the same period of time), the “Greens” got to lead by 11 when Vassilis Spanoulis cornered McIntyre, nicked the ball and scored on the fast break to 37-26 (15’30’’).
The guard of Siena had been locked down in general, an element that his team suffered from. McIntyre first got his name up on the score board at 9’30 and from the charity line nevertheless, since so much Spanoulis as succeeding in guarding Siena’s key-guy Nikos Hatzivrettas had kept him at zero points and had allowed him to dish to his teammates only once in the first quarter.
It was mainly all Panathinaikos players defense that offered the host its superiority on the floor but also Batiste and Pekovic who headed towards the locker rooms having 10 points each, the prior also having cleared off 4 rebounds from the glass. Panathinaikos accumulated 5 turnovers across from its guest’s 8, whilst the assists were 11-to-5, quite a sizeable difference in a very important area from both the teams’ games. Score resting at 44-38.
The Italians made the most out of the first minutes in the second half taking Panathinaikos by surprise, getting to tie for the first time since 6-6 (4’10’’), this time to 44-44 (21’40’’). Both teams went hand in hand for approximately 5 minutes, before the “Greens” got away again having Nikola Pekovic as their go-to-guy of the moment scoring 6 consecutive times to make the score 54-48 (26’10’’). The “clover” finished the third quarter leading by 9 (62-53) closing with a “nutty” bucket “charged” to Mike Batiste that brought about many smiley faces in the crown that clapped for joy.
Antonis Fotsis expanded the edge once more to its +11 fashion (67-56, 31’10’’) being also more than effective in gathering rebounds. The encounter was not yet over though and Siena took a crack at proving in practice what the technical staff of Panathinaikos had warned: “It is ready to exploit any possible mistake its rival might commit”. And so it did. 73-63 (33’50’’) became 73-71 (35’15’’) and the gap had closed yet again. Two triples sunk by Fotsis and Nicholas and a 3 point play by Nikola Pekovic lead to a new +11 advantage, the stadium having gone on fire and creativity being present once more. The “clover” held the win in its hands and did not allow it to slip through its fingers down the stretch to the final 90-85 that presented it with the lead it needed in the line of the play-offs, renewing its appointment for Thursday at 21.45 (GT) at the OAKA arena.
Referees: Mitjana (ESP), BElosevic (SRB), Ryzhyk (UKR)
Quarters: 23-18, 44-38, 62-53, 90-85
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Kecman, Spanoulis 14 (4as), Perperoglou 8 (6rbs), Batiste 12, Fotsis 11 (7rbs), Hatzivrettas 3, Nicholas 13, Tsartsaris 4, Pekovic 21 (8/10 twos), Jasikevicius 4 (5as)
Montepaschi Siena (Pianigiani): Domercant 5, McIntyre 27, Finley, Eze 2, Carraretto 2, Sato 29, Kaukenas 13, Ress, Lechthaler, McDonald, Stonerook 7
*Dimitris Diamntidis watched the game with casual clothing next to Fragiskos Alvertis and it was as though his was himself on court playing, since he lived every play trying to support his teammates in any way possible.
