Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens boosted its top-four chances by downing direct rival FC Barcelona, 89-81, leaving both teams with a 20-11 record.
The home team’s victory in a scintillating atmosphere in the Greek capital was not enough to secure the crucial tiebreaker, which remains unclaimed after both won by 8 points at home.
Barcelona raced into a 16-point lead with a 0-17 run in the second quarter, but the Greens totally dominated the second half to gradually erase the deficit and then move into a lead it rarely looked like losing.
Several stars shone for the home team, as Kendrick Nunn scored 22 points and backcourt teammate Kostas Sloukas paired 18 points with 8 assists. Dinos Mitoglou had a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Mathias Lessort delivered 13 points and 7 rebounds.
Jan Vesely and Willy Hernangomez led the resistance for Barcelona with 13 points apiece, but the visiting team could not cope with Panathinaikos’s second-half onslaught.
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