By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
It was tense, it was a fight, but in the end the favorite prevailed without doing something really impressive. Barcelona beat Panathinaikos 64-53 (3-2 wins), will go to London’s Final Four and will face Real Madrid in the semifinal, leaving out of the party the Greens, like they did to the Catalans back in 2011.
As usual Juan Carlos Navarro was the top scorer of the winners with 15 points, however Marcelinho Huertas made the three that decided the game (62-53) 1,5 minute before the final buzzer. Stephan Lasme had a big game (16 p., 7 r.) for the losing side, but the team’s natural leader Dimitris Diamantidis had just 6 points and 3 assists. It was a strange game for him as he had early foul troubles – after some questionable calls – but he managed to play for 29 minutes, without making a difference.
The key number of the game was Panathinaikos making just 1/19 threes, a combination of Barcelona’s defensive effort and of the Greens bad shooting night. The Catalans not only shot better, but also got 19 offensive rebounds in comparison with 23 defensive boards of the Greeks.
However, Panathinaikos is still rebuilding since last summer, while Barcelona is a team that was build to win the Euroleague and despite missing one of his key players, Pete Mickael, managed to get to London. So in their own way, both teams can feel satisfied after this game.