Panathinaikos made an ideal start in the Top16 by means of an impressive performance prevailing over Emporio Armani Milano in Italy by 78-57.
The European champions left no leeway to the Italians whatsoever. They found on court solutions in offence, got powerful into their defense thus leading the home team to turnovers, dominated the rebounds, and got in the lead from the very first minutes. The initial 0-5 turned into 6-16 (5’) and Panathinaikos did not look back henceforth. It dominated both the backcourt and in the paint, with the first quarter ending with the scoreboard reading 10-24. In the second quarter nothing much changed. The Italians made an effort for a comeback, but the “clover” had the first say in the game, stretching the score difference to a 20-point lead at half-time (23-43).
Zeljko Obradovic watched his players continue to perform at high tempo, managing to reach to several easy baskets in fast-breaks too. Emporio Armani Milano could not come up with those solutions that would enable it to return to the game; neither did Panathinaikos allow them to, due to its performance. The third quarter ended by 33-58, with Kostas Tsartsaris leading the score to a 28-point margin in the fourth quarter 28 (43-71, 36’10’’), and the game come to an end as the final score read 57-78.
Referees: Pukl (Slovenia), Ryzhyk (Ukraine), Mantyla (Finland)
By quarter: 10-24, 23-43, 33-58, 57-78
ΕΑ7 Emporio Armani (Scariolo): Giachetti 4, Manchinelli 3, Fotsis 10, Cook 6, Nicholas 5, Rocca 8, Filloy 6, Bourousis 6, Melli 2, Gentile 7, Radosevic
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Maric 4 (7 rebounds), Perperoglou 6, Batiste 10, Logan 12, Sato 11 (6 rebounds), Tsartsaris 3, Diamantidis 5 (4 assists), Vougioukas 8, Calathes 5, Smith 4, Kaimakoglou 4 (4 assists), Jasikevicius 6
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