By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Malcolm Delaney scored all of his 17 points in the last 14 minutes of the match to lead Barcelona to a 98 – 86 win over Panathinaikos at home, snapping the Greens’ four-game winning streak. It was Barcelona’s 10th victory in 13 games of the EuroLeague regular season.
Delaney was behind a key sequence of buckets down the stretch, first making the 84 – 77 from beyond the arc, then hitting the floater for the 91 – 81 and then putting the final seal in his team’s victory for by making it a 13-point game, 94 – 81 with 2:20 minutes remaining.
“I had a four-week stretch when I didn’t play well, I wasn’t being aggressive. I just wanted to take it upon myself to be more aggressive,” Delaney said to EuroLeague TV after the match. “They are a good team. Our fans were great and we did what we had to do in the second half.” The American guard also posted five assists and four rebounds.
Nikola Mirotic added game-highs 23 points, seven rebounds for 30 PIR. He scored 14 of his points in the first half to help the Blaugrana establish a lead early. The hosts dominated the boards in the first half, much to the irritation of Panathinaikos coach Rick Pitino, to get a 55 – 47 advantage at the break.
“I’m very tired but also very happy about this performance, as a team and what we did. As I said at the halftime, the key was the defense,” Mirotic said. “They came very good at the third quarter, making shots, but we were very calm at the end, especially, trying to play good offensively, with trust, and trying to control the rebound and then getting back in transition,”
Jimmer Fredette dropped 19 points while Nick Calathes posted a double-double of 13 points and 13 assists for Panathinaikos that is 8-5. The “Greens” trailed from start to finish since every time they became threatening, Barcelona responded well enough to remain at a distance.
Panathinaikos struggled on the rebounding field and finished the match with 13 boards less (39 – 26) than its opponents. Pitino criticized his players for not managing to rebound efficiently, during the post-game presser.
“Teams that come here play with confidence”
Barcelona coach Svetislav Pesic gave credit not only to his own team for the win but also to Panathinaikos for their performance on the road. As he said, he’s used to seeing teams playing well at Palau.
“We all are happy because the game was great, Pesic said. “Panathinaikos is a great team and they played excellent basketball, but we did also. We continued playing good offense and we improved our defense in the second half. We did a good job in defensive rebounding and these were the reasons why we won today. I’m very proud of the team because it is always difficult to play here, in our gym, because the teams that come here play with confidence and it is not an easy job for us.”
Photo: EuroLeague.net