After 13 years, Panathinaikos is back in the Euroleague final! Dominating from the first to the last second, he comfortably prevailed 73-57 against Fenerbahce at the 'Uber Arena' and advanced to the final of the competition where Real Madrid will fight for the seventh star against Olympiacos.
Terrible performance by Lessor who made a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Nunn and Grant were also in double figures with 14 and 13 points respectively.
For Fenerbahce who never managed to take the lead in the match, Hayes-Davich was the leader with 14 points while Kalathis fought with 5 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists.
He "suffocated" her with the beginning
It was a dream start for Panathinaikos in the match, since with its "weapon" defense and Grant doing everything on the floor, it led 12-0 after four minutes of the match. Jasikevicius took a timeout to help his team which, returning to the court, "ran" a 4-0 (12-4, 6') with two consecutive baskets by Hayes-Davis. With Lessor and Sluka taking action, however, the "greens" maintained a good margin at the end of the first period (22-13, 10').
Fener tried but...
Fener entered the second quarter well and with a 7-0 run quickly reduced it to 24-20 (13'), but then Nan and Slukas came forward to bring the score to 29-20 (14'). Papagiannis made a three-pointer for 32-26 (16') opening the account, Grant and Grigonis maintained a difference for Panathinaikos, with the Turks finally reducing at halftime to 38-36 with Hayes-Davis as the protagonist.
Build a wall
And in the second half, Panathinaikos was the one who started the charge as with a partial 7-2 they found themselves at 45-38 (22'). Kalathis - shocking throughout the match - however with five consecutive points brought Fener back to the shootout (45-43, 23'). With shots from Grant and Lessor, Panathinaikos went to +6 (51-45, 26'), but Sestina and Dorsey brought Fener within a point for the first time (51-50, 27'). Until the end of the period, Saras' team did not score a point and with a 5-0 run by Lessor, Kalaitzakis, the "greens" entered the last quarter with a score of 56-50.
He turned it into a walk
With the same protagonists, Panathinaikos reached a double-digit difference (60-50, 32'), while Fener seemed to have lost it due to the defense and energy of the "greens". With a goal-foul by Nan, Panathinaikos was +13 for the first time (65-52, 36') and it was now clear that there was no turning back for the Turks. The American with a three-pointer at 1'34" signed the green triumph and formed the final 73-57 that ceremoniously gave the qualification to his team which is waiting to know its opponent in the final.
Minutes: 22-13, 38-36, 56-50, 73-57.
Panathinaikos (Ataman): Kalaitzakis 5 (1 three-pointer, 4 rebounds), Sloukas 4 (0/3 three-pointers), Papapetrou 9 (1), Grant 13 (4/6 two-pointers, 1/2 three-pointers, 2/3 shots), Nan 14 (2/4 3-pointers, 6/4 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 17 assists, 6 turnovers), Lesor 10 (5/10 10-pointers, 5/6 shots, 3 rebounds, 3 turnovers), Antetokounmpo, Grigonis 1 (2 assists), Juancho 4 (XNUMX ), Mitoglou XNUMX (XNUMX rebounds).
Fenerbahce (Jasikevicius): Motley, Wilbekin 2 (1/10 shots, 4 fouls), Sanli 7 (1), Papagiannis 3 (1), Hayes-Davis 14 (2/6 4-pointers), Biberovich 10, Pierre, Goodrich 2 (6/2 0-pointers) , Dorsey 2 (5/1 9-pointers), Kalathis 4 (3 3-pointer, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, XNUMX steals, XNUMX turnovers), Sestina XNUMX (XNUMX)
Source: in.gr