One more CSKA Moscow Vs Panathinaikos encounter to be defined in the clutch. The win fail into Russian possession behind final score 66-64, score which presented it with one-out-of-two tomorrow’s final tickets up for grabs. Panathinaikos will be unable to defend its title. Even though it gave one hell of a battle, especially coming off tip-off with an exceptional performance, in the end it could not help but breaking, showing however a paradox of being the better opponent on court for the greatest part of the clash but also in many statistical categories.
The Greens made a genuinely amazing opening act. Number are enough to bear witness to the fact: 2-11 behind Mike Batiste and the ball being fed in the paint towards his direction, 7-19 behind Saras (5’), 11-25 and 13-27, only for first quarter to rest at 15-29, speedy David Logan unraveling a coast to coast. Panathinaikos maintained the same rhythm for most of the second period, the Russian battling to counteract, trying out formation after to formation to see which one fits. 19-32 (12’50’’) formed of a Nick Calathes trifecta, flexed to 32-32 (18’40’’), half-time finding the score board reading 32-34. It was a nail-bitter, officially.
CSKA Moscow managed to take the lead for the first time in the game during the first five minutes of the second half (41-39), nevertheless Panathinaikos input an immediate response and kept on doing so every time the same scenario played out on court. It managed to climb back up to +4 (46-50, 27’), crept away even further behind a 6 point lead (51-57, 31’) but the Russians were determined to stay alive on the floor. It got to second chance offences managed to lead again (60-59 35’) and the same game plan played out once more as 60-64 Sarunas Jasikevicius built by a triple fell back to 65-64, 38’’ remaining on the clock. At this is about were all control in the game was lost, not players though the ones in fault. CSKA Moscow found ground to breach Panathinaikos’ defense to get up by 2 (66-64), 8’’ to go on the court. Panathinaikos did not get to exploit this period of time as aspired, resulting in Russian celebrations at the sound of the buzzer. The Greens though were immensely applauded by the impressive number of fans who were for yet another occasion marvelous supporters of their team, as 4,000 of them filled the Sinan Erdem arena and stood by players and technical staff from minute one down the stretch to the 40th minute marker. After all, this team has made them proud time after time…
Referees: Jungebrand (FIN), Martin (ESP), Radovic (CRO)
Quarters: 15-29, 32-34, 51-55, 66-64
CSKA Moscow (Kazlauskas): Teodosic 12, Lavrinovic 2, Siskauskas 5, Krstic 8, Kirilenko 17, Voronov, Vorontsevich, Shvad 15, Kaun 2, Khryapa 3, Gordon 2
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Maric 6, Perperoglou, Batiste 11, Logan 2, Sato 3, Tsartsaris, Diamantidis 10, Vougioukas, Calathes N. 3, Kaimakoglou 10, Jasikevicius 19
