In a key battle in the race to reach the playoffs, FC Barcelona Lassa registered its fifth consecutive win by downing Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 79-68 at Palau Blaugrana on Friday. Barcelona improved to 11-7 and is not tied on victories for fifth place in the standings with Olympiacos. Panathinaikos dropped to 8-10 and is tied for eighth place with AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan and KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. Thomas Heurtel led the winners with 23 points and Kevin Seraphin added 14. Ioannis Papapetrou led Panathinaikos with 17 points. Barcelona was up by 37-36 at halftime, extended the lead to 56-52 after 30 minutes and had to wait until the final 2 minutes to celebrate a well-deserved win.
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