Panathinaikos stepped on the gas, overtook Alba and secured 2nd place!

“Green” party in the stocked OAKA for the 2nd place of the regular season of the Euroleague!

Carrying out an excellent, as well as explosive fourth quarter, o Panathinaikos AKTOR prevailed upon me 84-75 of Alba Berlin in the hot atmosphere of the closed Olympic facilities, with the “clover” to locks in 2nd place and home field advantage, finishing with a 23-11 record!

With the “three bodyguards”, Kendrick Nunn, Kostas Sluka and Costa Antetokounmpo, to be on a terrible night and lead the charge, Ergin Ataman’s team bent the tail but highly competitive Alba and now wait to find out their opponent in the playoffs, who will be either the Maccabior its winner Virtus-Basconia.

The first scorer of the winners was Nan with 28 points – 23 in the second half (!) – a personal performance record in the event! Delightful once again o Kostas Sloukas with 16 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds and 27 units in the evaluation system, while, in terms of Antetokounmpowas pivotal in the first half of the final period, finishing the match with 9 points, 3 rebounds and 4 blocks!

The match:

THE Panathinaikos AKTOR started the game with Grant, Nunn, Grigonis, Mitoglou and Balcherovski in his starting five. However, those who entered the match better were the Germans, and with them Kumandze and Hermanson to hit the racket, they led 2-5 before Grigonis equalized with a three-pointer (5-5) in the 3rd minute. Somewhere there, the mistakes and the bad defense of the “greens”, allowed the Alba Berlin to run a quick 7-0 for 12-5 at 5′.

The entry of Lessor and Sluka on the floor they gave the necessary offensive boost to the “clover”, who with their own baskets they “unstuck” Panathinaikosreducing to the minimum value of the difference (16-17) at 8′. With Kumandze, however, continuing to make a splash on the “drawing board”, the guests closed the quarter at +6 for 23-17.

The scene was different in second period, with Panathinaikos tightening its defense, slowly finding an attacking rhythm through its perimeter. Keeping the Berliners at just 4 points in the first 4.5 minutes, the “greens” managed not only to “nibble” the difference, but also to take the lead for the first time after the initial 2-0, with baskets by Vildosa, Nan, Sluka and Lessor for 30-27 at 15!

However, Alba’s response came immediately with a quick 5-0 run by Hermanson and Matt Thomas (30-32), with the two teams then trading back-to-back strikes until the end of the period. His entrance Costa Antetokounmpo in the last part of the quarter, combined with Sluka’s very good performance in the executive and creative part, they gave the “greens” the opportunity to close the first half with a short header and with score 38-37. The Greek center had 7 points, 2 rebounds and as many blocks in 5.5 minutes, helping Ergin Ataman’s total significantly.

The short break at halftime seems to have worked beneficial for Panathinaikos, with the “clover” players… clearing their minds and entering more focused and determined third period. With Kendrick Nunn… exploding offensively and scoring 12 points in the first five minutes of the quarter (!), the “greens” led 50-46, while a little later, with a three-pointer by Grigonis, they reached for the first time at +7 for 55-48 at 26′.

And where it looked like the momentum was in favor of the hosts, Alba responded strongly, equalizing at 57-57 at 28′ with Matt Thomas as the main spokesperson, while despite his overtaking three-pointer Sluka (60-59) at 29‘, the visitors took advantage of Panathinaikos’ poor and… loose defense, closing the quarter at +3 for 63-60.

Panathinaikos entered determined not to get involved in adventures against the tail of the standings, with Ergin Ataman’s team stepping on the gas, bringing out tremendous energy on the floor and putting the world in the equation of the match. The one who changed the course of the match was Costas Antetokounmpo with baskets and terrible defenses (2 caps) that roused OAKA, to come the Sloukas and Nan and with personal points to run one 13-0 run for 73-63 at 34′!

In the remaining time, Panathinaikos managed the lead in their favor and despite the counterattack of the Berliners with consecutive three-pointers by Delow (78-72) in the 38th minute, the “greens” they cleaned up the match with the exact same “currency” and with their three-pointers Nan and Hernangometh in the last minute, they took the win with the final 84-75!

The quarters: 17-23, 38-37, 60-63, 84-75.

See here the statistics of the match.