By Dionysis Aravantinos / info@eurohoops.net
The hosts demolished Real Madrid 95- 67 and have a 1-0 series advantage in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague playoffs.
Panathinaikos was on an absolute tear early on, starting the game with a 20-0 run (9/11 FG), providing spectacular plays and not allowing Madrid’s squad to score in the first five minutes of the contest. Real also had seven turnovers in that span. Ledy by Mike James, PAO scored 46 first-half points and was up by 16 points (46-30).
The double-digit lead was too much to handle for the visitors, and it kept on increasing with Nick Calathes distributing and James Gist, Marcus Denmon, and Mike James scoring from everywhere on the court (66-37). Lasso’s team could not respond, and so the home side went up by 30+ points (77-44).
Pascual’s backcourt of Nick Calathes and Mike James was simply incredible. James was on a mission, flirting with a double-double. He finished with a personal playoff high 24 points (10/14 FG) and eight rebounds.
Panathinaikos’ leader, Calathes added another double-double to his historic season, as he scored 11 points and handed out a career-high and EuroLeague playoff record with 16 assists. All twelve of Pascual’s players scored.
For the losing side, Luka Doncic finished the game with 10 points.
This result is the biggest loss of Real in the playoffs and the largest win for PAO in the playoffs. This win also marked Panathinaikos’ first win in the playoffs in three years.
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