By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
It’s no exaggeration to say that the pulse of European basketball is currently beating in Athens. And the reason is no other than the “Diamonds Are Forever” tournament which is being held to honor Dimitris Diamantidis, the longtime captain of Panathinaikos and Euroleague legend.
The participation of CSKA Moscow, Barcelona, Maccabi Tel Aviv and, of course, Panathinaikos is giving something of a “Final Four” aura to this basketball feast which began with the game between the Russian and the Spanish teams.
The reigning Euroleague champions were victorious 100 – 96 after a quite prolific scoring game by both teams that was decided in overtime.
It’s noteworthy that nine out of the twelve players from each squad had alredy written their names in the boxscore minutes before the second period was over. A result not only of the rotation that the two coaches implemented but of the clear offensive direction and quality of the basketball that both teams put on court.
A fantastic Nando De Colo finished the match with 28 points and 6 rebounds for CSKA, shooting with a fine 11/16 from the field, while Nikita Kurbanov and Cory Higgins added 12 points each. Milos Teodosic dropped 11 points and dished 8 assists.
For Barcelona, Tyrese Rice was the top scorer and passer with 19 points plus 5 assists and Ante Tomic registered a strong double-double of 17 points plus 14 rebounds. Petteri Koponen had 16 points.