Panathinaikos after defeating twice a more than tough opponent, away from home nevertheless, currently has “a ticket to ride” all the way to Berlin. The score 91-84 against Montepaschi in Siena presented it with qualification and return to F4. The “clover” committed yet another grand appearance in a down to the wire encounter.
The Italian game was all about pressure throughout the entire first half. They chased after every ball up for grabs, got up on every play and applied full-court pressure. It was more than obvious that focus had been centered on Vassilis Spanoulis, as the hosts went out of their way to disrupt organization from the very first pass. Assigning his defense to a taller than him player, Siena’s goal was to keep his driving limited and force Panathinaikos to commit its offense at the expiry of its 24 seconds, presumably not according to expectations.
Siena’s strategy seemed to bare results partially, as Panathinaikos did not manage to create much of a distance from its rival, as it had in game 3 of the series, but did on the other hand have control for most of the first 20 minutes game time. Zeljko Obradovic’s boys got to lead (2-7, 2’35’’) and then get to +7 (7-14, 5’30’’) giving their opponents a taste of their own medicine as they exploited their every mistake getting to score easily on fast breaks. Not even the game interruption at 3’40’’ after a rain of objects to the court, managed to distract Panathinaikos from the game momentum and cruised to a +12 cushion (16-28, 9’50’’), before the first quarter ended 18-28.
Upper hand did not change possession in the second quarter either, but things toughened up noticeably. After 21-34 (11’30’’) set by a “down-town fire-at-will” Drew Nicholas, Siena pressure was enhanced, Panathinaikos stood its ground, shortly prior to minute 15 the “clover” led in double digits (31-41), but defensive rotation problems came about in the “Green” barracks, allowing the Italians to unguarded shots plus a few good connections. Obradovic was forced to two almost back-to-back time-outs nevertheless the gap was closed to a 3 point distance as game went into intermission (44-47).
Spanoulis had already dished 7 out his team’s 10 perfect passes but also had 3 personal fouls, in rebounds matters were balanced (15-14) as in steals department too (8-7), turnovers at 8-9, Nicholas chipped in 14, perfect at triples (4-out of-4) across from Panathinaikos’ main headache Terrell McIntyre who at the break paced his team behind 22 points keeping his teammates honest as they all functioned in order for him to get to his shot.
Panathinaikos’ second part opening was a more pleasing one it mounted a +8 edge (47-55, 23’15’’), alas Siena fought back once more. It run an 8-0 streak (54-55, 24’45’’) when Obradovic counted 4 players charged thrice with fouls: Spanoulis, Tsartsaris, Diamantidis and Batiste! The only player that accompanied them on the respective list from the hosts was Sato, the Italians having embarked on an unbelievably feisty contact defense. Pekovic cut Siena’s run by netting a two though not much changed in the game status, PalaMensSana arena literary on fire, especially when Kaukenas scored the bucket that put the hosts on top (58-57, 26’50’’). Spanoulis connected with Pekovic to make his assists 8 and Panathinaikos lead yet again (58-60, 27’25’’). At third quarter ending the Italians trailed by 5 (60-65).
Up to minute 34 the 3-foul list had been enlarged with the addition of Jasikevicius, Fotsis and Nicholas, Montepaschi proving to be a continuous threat in its greatly supporting home-court, tying at 69-69 in a deafening surrounding atmosphere, Terrell McIntyre jogging his team to lead by 3 (72-69, 35’30’’). Birthday-boy Fotsis unleashed a three to silence the stadium (72-72, 36’). Nicholas copied (74-75, 36’35’’). Spanoulis capitalized on a three-pointer attempt foul and swooshed the net for a 3-out of-3 charity line crop (74-78, 37’10’’), Fotsis struck again this time with a steal that concluded in a foul committed on Batiste, object-rain round 2 now taking place. The latter brought Panathinaikos to a cozy +8 advantage (74-82, 38’20’’), only to be succeeded by Jasikevicius who sunk an amazing trifecta for 75-85 at 39’. A momentarily relaxation allowed Siena to gain on the “clover”, but the visitors had not concluded their stay. They climbed back up to a 10 point distance (79-89, 39’40’’) and play-off credits started to run in PalaMensSana. Final buzzer found the scoreboard reading 84-91 and Obradovic & Co with the Berlin ticket in hand. The team celebrated on court its great triumph.
Referees: Brazauskas (LTU), Sutulovic (MNE), Garcia Ortiz (ESP)
Quarters: 18-28, 44-47, 60-65, 84-91
Montepaschi Siena (Pianigiani): Domercant 2, McIntyre 35, Finley 5, Eze 8, Carraretto 2, Sato 5, Lavrinovic 6, Kaukenas 15, Ress, Stonerook 6
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Spanoulis 11 (10as), Perperoglou 12, Batiste 15 (5rbs), Fotsis 8, Nicholas 19 (5/7 threes), Tsartsaris, Diamantidis 2, Pekovic 14 (5rbs), Jasikevicius 10
