By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
What started as a walk in the park, turned out to be a thriller, but Panathinaikos OPAP managed to get the 72-70 win over KIROLBet Baskonia and remains on playoffs course as both teams share a 14-13 record.
Panathinaikos started the game with an impressive 21-2 run, led by 16 at the end of the first period (26-10) and by 21 at halftime (48-27). However, the second half was a totally different story.
The Greens relaxed a bit too much and as a result, the score was tied at 61 with five minutes left in the game. Baskonia turned things around with an amazing 28-2 run, keeping Panathinaikos to eight points in the third quarter and everything was decided in the closing seconds of the contest.
Sean Kilpatrick made a crucial three, giving a 70-67 lead to Panathinaikos and Baskonia lost two chanced to get close again or tie the score. Lucas Vildoza couldn’t respond with his own shot, Marcelinho Huertas turned over the ball and DeShaun Thomas sealed the deal.
“We are delighted by the win, but not from the second half and we know that if we play for 32 or 35 minutes like that, we can beat everybody”, said Panathinaikos’ coach Rick Pitino after the game who explained, “when you miss shots, you deflate, you stop playing defense and you blame the referees. Great teams play good defense no matter what. To our credit in the last two minutes we played great defense, we made great plays and we got the win”.
Huertas with three free throws on the last second just trimmed the final point difference to two. Thomas finished the game with 16 points, Kilpatrick added 14 and Nick Calathes had a double-double (11 p. 12 as. 6 r.).
Shavon Shields and Huertas scored 13 points each for Baskonia. The guests were missing four members of their team, (Shengelia, Granger, Janning and Garino) and at least by losing by two points kept the head-to-head tiebreaker with Panathinaikos. “We will see in the end if this can be important or not“, said Baskonia coach Velimir Perasovic after the game.
Photo credit: EuroLeague