FC Barcelona clinched a playoff spot in Round 30 by downing Panathinaikos Athens 74-88 at OAKA Altion in the Greek capital. Powering the boards allowed Barca to get control of the game and cruise to an important victory.
Barca outrebounded Panathinaikos 18-42 in what undeniably was the key to this game. Those 42 boards were a new season high for Barca, whose best previous high mark in the 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague was 40 rebounds in respective victories over Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade. Nikola Kalinic and Tomas Satoransky helped on the boards more than anyone else with 9 rebounds apiece.
Barca had one of the best performances of the season in terms of boxing out, finishing the game with 32 defensive rebounds and allowing Panathinaikos to pull down just 5 offensive boards. It means that Barca grabbed 86.5% of all rebounds under its own rim. Things were different at the other end of the floor: Panathinaikos had 13 defensive rebounds and Barca finished the game with 10 offensive boards. The Greens pulled down just 56.5% of all rebounds under their basket and the winners scored 17 second-chance points while Panathinaikos had just 5.
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