The Serbian team brushed aside the 2024 champs on the back of ironclad defense in a lop-sided contest
Monumental defensive effort sees Partizan overwhelm Panathinaikos
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 27 of 38
Regular Season
Partizan Mozzart Bet BelgradePAR
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Panathinaikos AKTOR AthensPAO
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Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade produced arguably its best performance of the season in a 78-62 home whitewash of Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens thanks to superb defense that forced 20 turnovers from the 2024 EuroLeague champions.
Partizan improved to 9-18 while Panathinaikos, which only managed 13 assists while shooting a mere 4-of-19 from deep, dropped to 16-11 as the battle for playoff spots keeps intensifying. The outcome will have done preciously little to boost Partizan’s postseason hopes, but it left the Greens in a cluster of teams vying for playoff and play-in berths, highlighting the Greek giant’s patchy form.
The rivals headed into the showdown in contrasting moods as Partizan came off a tough buzzer-beating loss at Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv while Panathinaikos were fresh from a very different fortune, having ground out last-gasp wins against Real Madrid and LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne.
One could be forgiven, however, for thinking it was the other way around as Partizan brought an abundance of energy onto the court, carving out a 22-19 lead at the end of the first quarter before engineering a 45-33 halftime advantage. Clearly feeling the ill of Kendrick Nunn’s continued absence, especially on offense, the Greens struggled on pretty much every possession in the second half and fell behind 68-42 early in the fourth.
The visitors then enjoyed their best spell of the match, forcing a 0-9 run before Partizan got out of sight and made sure there was to be no late drama. Cam Payne pulled the strings on offense and paced the home team on 18 points, 4 boards and 5 assists, while Sterling Brown and Isaac Bonga chipped in with 16 each, the latter also racking up 6 boards and 3 assists. Big man Bruno Fernando added 11 points to underline a smooth team effort, while TJ Shorts led Panathinaikos and all scorers on a game-high 21 points but finished as the only visiting player in double figures.
“The energy was amazing today and this win showed that we are capable of doing big things,” Bonga said in his postgame comments before making an interesting analogy on what it must feel like for visiting teams to play in the imposing Belgrade Arena. “We’ve all been in tough situations before as basketball players and if you come to the dungeon, you’ve got to be prepared to do battle,” the German forward pointed out.
Payne credited the fans for their loud support and stressed that it was a much-needed win for Partizan after Tuesday’s heartbreaking defeat at Maccabi.
“A shout out to the fans, they did a great job tonight and gave us a lot of energy,” he said. “We came locked in on to the court, won a lot of 50-50 balls and it showed. They came here after a buzzer-beater win, while we had a buzzer-beater bummer, so we just had to make sure we stayed locked in through adversity.”
It was also a welcome win for head coach Joan Penarroya who seems to have steadied the ship on the back of a turbulent period after taking over from interim boss Mirko Ocokoljic, who stepped in following the resignation of the iconic Zeljko Obradovic.
“It’s a great win for us,” said the Spanish tactician. “We played a complete game, so congratulations to my players and the supporters. We played with a lot of energy and consistency on defense, as controlling the defensive rebound allowed us to run. The team showed they can play good defense, while we also shared the ball well. We still need to improve a lot of things, but we are clearly moving in the right direction.”
It was a difficult outing for Panathinaikos head coach Ergin Ataman, who remained tight-lipped on Nunn’s return to action as his side continues to look a pale shadow of the team that won the competition in 2024 and reached the Final Four last season.
“We played terribly on offense, very bad,” the Turkish tactician said with a grim look on his face. “We committed too many turnovers and missed open shots, while Partizan played aggressively, so congratulations to them. We didn’t answer their physicality and maybe that was because we arrived two days after a tough game against Real Madrid, while still missing Kendrick Nunn.”
