Panathinaikos committed one of its best appearances this season and prevailed over PAOK by 97-54 in game 1 of the play-off series, encounter hosted at the OAKA arena. The Greens paced the entire game and faced no problem down the stretch of the 40 minute play time. They stepped on court acting with high velocity and continued in the same fashion. Tip-off 5, Spanoulis, Nicholas, Perperoglou, Fotsis and Batiste jogged their team to a cozy 10-0 run and from then on never once looked back. All the way up to 5’20’’ PAOK had got lucky at a field goal only once (17-2). Coach Obradovic starting his player rotations early, up to minute 13 had already cleared off the bench. The pace was not at any point left to drag and the gap between opponents became wider and wider, PAOK’s trail mounting to 30 points at 18’10’’ due to 8 consecutive points dropped by Vassilis Spanoulis. Teams headed to the locker rooms score at 64-31, the score distance growing even further, game recommencing and unraveling as a “clover” monologue.
Panathinaikos players were effective on both ends of the court, let it be noted that at many points of the encounter show time moments were offered, since the players seemed to enjoy their day at the ball-game. The Greens reached a 40 point advantage (73-33, 23’) and then 50 (85-35, 28’50’’) PAOK gathering only 6 points in the 3 quarter (4 points in 9 minutes) and tallying 40 total points only after 31’30’’ had elapsed on the game clock. The Green edge peaked at 53 points (94-40, 33’20’’) Mike Batiste the man of the moment. The game ended 97-54 marking Panathinaikos’ greatest win against PAOK in the history of the Greek League and the last time the team’s fans will get to see it live at OAKA before its trip to Berlin on Wednesday for the Euroleague Final Four tournament.
Referees: Anastopoulos – Panagiotou – Katrachouras
Quarters: 29-14, 64-31, 85-37, 97-54
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Kecman 3(6rbs), Spanoulis 11(5rbs, 4as), Perperoglou 5(3stl), Batiste 14(8rbs, 3as), Fotsis 4, Hatzivrettas 4, Nicholas 12(2as), Tsartsaris 5, Diamantidis 5(4as), Pekovic 21 (8df), Sakota 4, Jasikevicius 9(5as)
PAOK (Kalafatakis): Johnsen 17, Kalabakas, Simtsak 4, Kyritsis 7, Demertzis 10, Giannakidis, Tomasevic 16
*Play-offs game 2 will take place at Pylea indoor stadium, Monday at 17:00h (NovaSports), with referees Papadimitriou – Georgiadis – Ksenikakis.
*The win against PAOK is one of Panathinaikos’ greatest victories in the history of the Greek League.
The greatest wins
+62 2006-07 Makedonikos-Panathinaikos 44-106
+52 1999-00 Panathinaikos-Esperos 97-45
+47 1994-95 Panathinaikos-Ampelokipoi 134-87
+47 2008-09 Panathinaikos-Panionios 97-50
+46 2005-06 Panathinaikos-Kolossos Rhodes 112-66
+45 2006-07 Panathinaikos-Egaleo 101-56
+45 1992-93 Panathinaikos-Dafni 121-76
+44 2008-09 Panathinaikos-GS Larissas 102-58
+44 2007-08 Panathinaikos-Kolossos Rhodes 105-61
+44 2004-05 Panathinaikos-Panionios 101-57
+43 2008-09 Panathinaikos-PAOK 97-54
+42 1999-00 Esperos - Panathianikos 53-95
+42 2006-07 Apollon Patron-Panathinaikos 62-104
