By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Barcelona dominated the last stretch of the away game against Panathinaikos Athens to leave OAKA arena with a 91-82 win and the 2-0 sweep over the Greek side in the EuroLeague regular season.
This was the sixth straight win for Barcelona in EuroLeague and a result that keeps them tied with archrival Real Madrid at the second place in the standings, sitting on 19-6. The sixth-placed Panathinaikos dropped to 14 – 11.
The quartet of Nikola Mirotic (20 points, nine rebounds), Cory Higgins (17 points), Malcolm Delaney (15 points, six assists) and Alex Abrines (13 points) spearheaded Barcelona’s efforts towards the victory. The team hadn’t defeated Panathinaikos in Athens since a Top 16 game of March 2015.
Nick Calathes’ (10 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds) near triple-double performance, George Papagiannis (14 points, eight rebounds), Jimmer Fredette (13 points) and Ioannis Papapetrou (12 points) were the top contributors for Panathinaikos.
“We knew our mistakes in the first half and in the second half we started to rebound and play good defense. Offensively we were trying to push the ball and score easy buckets, and finally we started soring making threes. The team effort was the key tonight. We battled back and won a huge game. This gives us huge confidence,” Mirotic said to EuroLeague TV.
Mirotic also hit the dagger from beyond the arc to put Barcelona up 78 – 88 with 1:24 left to play, by completing an 0-10 run. The “Blaugrana” had scored 18 points in five minutes and overall had a 4 – 14 partial score to come back from down 74 – 70.
Panathinaikos was previously up even by 11 points in the beginning of the second half. Barca quickly erased that deficit to close the third period at a one-possession distance.
Barcelona simplified things in its offense by making the 3-pointers the team craved in the first half. Svetislav Pesic’s players finished the match with 11/29 while their opponents shot 6/28, including many wide-open looks.
A transformation in the second half
Barcelona coach Svetislav Pesic was pleased to see his players completely changing the way they played in the last 15 minutes of the game to get the win.
“The most important thing was to eliminate transition points for Panathinaikos,” Pesic said. “Secondly our winning mentality that we showed in the moments we didn’t make our shots. 15 offensive rebounds gave us confidence for three-point shots, which we improved. We have the quality of player to make three-point shots and I’m proud of the players because they showed character. Sometimes it’s not important to win the game but how you win the game.”
Photo: EuroLeague Basketball