The Top 16 impact is unforgiven for an Olimpia guilty of making a lot of little mistakes, starting with the foul shots, and it’s dominated on the boards right through the last possession so it’s not capable to capitalize on a good defensive effort, against a Panathinaikos full of experience and very efficient fron three (10/21 versus 5/19). Alessandro Gentile finishes with 14 points, Jerrells scores all his 9 points in the second half but the 12/22 from the line is bad just like the 39-22 rebounding difference.
THE FIRST HALF – Panathinaikos uses all the creativity of Diamantidis (six assists in the first quarter alone) to bring the ball in the middle of Olimpia’s defense and to open up space for open outisde shots (Ukic and Maciulis scored by three on kick-outs). It also goes to the line often. Olimpia misses the first three open threes but keeps palying hard. After a couple of three, Hackett and Melli, is within one, 13-12. Panathinaikos goes on a 7-0 run closed by a James Gist’s three and it’s up 20-12. EA7 struggles to score but it’s holding the forth defensively. keith Langford makes a buzzer beater from mid-range and it’s 20-14 at the end of first. Alessandro Gentile plays tough and sometimes he looks inspired too but strangely misses four free throws before making the fifth. In the middle of the second Panathinaikos is up 26-19 after the first David Moss’s jump from the corner and Olimpia trying to stay in the game because of the defense forcing three 24-second violations. The greens are restarting their engine thanks to a series of trips to the line. Mavrokefalidis makes four foul shots and pushes Panathinaikos up by nine again (38-29). Moss scores again and at the end of the first half is 38-31.
THE SECOND HALF – Defenses are dominating over the offenses for four solid minutes. Diamantidis scores on a drive for the 10-point lead but Gentile on a three brings Olimpia within seven again but the problem is the foul situation, with Langford and Hackett at three on consecutive possessions. The second three by Gentile is erased by Ramel Curry’s answer. It’s the most difficult stretch for Olimpia. Panathinaikos gets away on a 15-point lead, 52-37, then Lawal dunks an alley-oop pass by Jerrells, Gentile makes a free throw e at the and of the third EA7 is down by 12. But in the fourth quarter there are stretches of a defensive letdown and the offense is not going to sustain the effort. The greens are scoring twice from three with Curry and Fotsis, then Fotsis scores on a break too and with 7:16 to play the lead is getting bigger, at 20. Olimpia responds and with a 6-0 run tries to contain the margin but at the end it’s still a 16-point win for Panathinaikos.