Victory this time landed in Green possession… Diamantidis’ trifecta plus Lasme’s blocked shot on Navarro got the score 65-66 against Barcelona, Panathinaikos to tie the Euroleague playoff series 1-1; matters hereon to be transferred to the OAKA arena.
Different image, but with same protagonist was the game first minutes breaking away from tip-off. Barcelona opened the score 2-0, Panathinaikos responded to get its opponent at a 5 point trail (5-10, 3’50’’), Sofoklis Schortsanitis to star, Vassilis Xanthopoulos performing as a starter. From that point forward the game changed, since both teams embarked on hunting one another, go-to-guys to change in every play. The Catalans led (11-10, 4’45’’) but the Greens seemed determined. They regained the lead (11-16 at the end of first quarter) only to get up by 8 (11-19, 10’20’’) James Gist to swoosh the net for a three. The gap between rivals was closed, Barcelona trying out defenses and coming up with great long distance range (5-for-9 for first half), while on the other end of the court Panathinaikos was unable to hit the mark from beyond the arc. The hosts led once more at 17’45’’, running a partial 9-2 from 19-23 (13’50’’) to 28-25 (18’45’’), half time to rest at 32-27.
The Catalans managed to bring their guests within 13 points through the first few minutes of the second half (40-27), Juan Carlos leading his team at the time. Panathinaikos however, was in no mood to throw in the towel. It established the solutions it sought, got close to the basket and finally got a further aspect which it was lacking up to now: Three-point range. Roko Leni Ukic drained his three to balance the score (45-45, 28’11), captain Dimitris Diamantidis added another one to provide his team with the lead once more (58-60, 34’). Anxiety resurfaced once more all the way down the stretch… Barcelona led 64-60 (38’20’’) but a nothing-but-net triple from the base line unleashed by Mike Bramos closed the gap to its smallest possible distance (64-63), 1’14’’ pending on the game clock. Navarro marked 65-63, 19’’6 to final buzzer… Diamantidis stepped up late to pull a jumper off the dribble from down town only to make his shot and get the score board read 65-66… Essentially final game score, as Lasme rejected Navarro’s shot for the win at the other end of the floor.
Referees: Ryzhyk (UKR), Viator (FRA), Paternico (ITA)
Quarters: 11-16, 32-27, 50-48, 65-66
Barcelona (Pascual): Sada 6, Huertas 5, Abrines 10, Navarro 20, Jasikevicius 2, Wallace 2, Ingles 3, Lorbek 7, Jawai 4, Mbaye, Tomic 6
Panathinaikos (Pedoulakis): Bramos 13, Maciulis 5, Ukic 8, Lasme 9, Tsartsaris 1, Diamantidis 10, Gist 14, Banks, Xanthopoulos 2, Schortsanitis 4
Pedoulakis: “Barcelona has first say!”
Argyris Pedoulakis, Panathinaikos’ Head Coach, stated at the Press Conference: “Today’s game was a Grand Guignol game, like the previous one. We had good aspects such as the defensive department and pace control. In offense I believe that we failed to perform in many cases. We made mind mistakes, failed to read into the game correctly. Adrenaline was pumping; we lost offenses because we were not using our heads. We were better in the first game; we can be even better next. Barcelona is a very experienced team, with bench depth, able to administer situations. It still has first say in the series”.
When asked what the title in a newspaper he would be the editor of after such a matchup would be, his answer was: “Passion! The guys lay down their soul in the clash!”
PHOTOS
