The Greens are in a commanding position to clinch a top-four finish and hence home-court advantage in the playoffs
Panathinaikos held on for a crunch road win at Bayern
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens put itself in a good position to secure a top-four finish at the end of the regular season in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, having ground out a tough 75-82 win at FC Bayern Munich on Friday night.
The result also ended Bayern’s hopes of clinching a play-in berth in the final round of games, although even a win would have ultimately been futile for Bayern after Anadolu Efes Istanbul beat city rival Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in the Istanbul derby.
Panathinaikos will be assured of home-court advantage in the playoffs if it beats ALBA Berlin at home, seemingly a straightforward task, although the Greens will take surely nothing for granted against the German side.
Bayern, which shot the lights out from downtown (14 of 28) against Panathinaikos, looked capable of pulling off an upset but was eventually forced into submission by a more resourceful opponent which kept finding another gear.
The Greens’ big three stepped up
Roared on by boisterous travelling support, Panathinaikos benefited from a balanced effort by its top performers, with center Mathias Lessort claiming the player of the game accolade after racking up 13 points and 5 boards.
Kendrick Nunn, who poured a game-high 17 points, and Kostas Sloukas (12 points, 7 assists, 6 boards) would have been just as worthy of the award, but Lessort pipped them to it as he also came up big on the defensive end when the Greens needed him to.
“This was like a Final Four contest because we were hunting second position and home-court advantage in the playoffs,” Lessort said in his post-game comments. “It’s a huge win for us and kudos to our fans, they gave us a big push tonight. It was an away game but they made us feel at home. There was a sense of urgency as everyone knew the importance of this game and how big it was for us.”
It was double delight for head coach Ergin Ataman, who congratulated his former club Efes for coming out on top in the Istanbul derby before lauding his team for standing firm and repelled repeated attempts by Bayern to stage a comeback.
“We knew we’d be in a commanding position to finish second if we won this game and we also knew it was going to be very tough because Bayern never gives up,” he noted. We played great defense in the fourth quarter to get the win.”
Bayern head coach Pablo Laso was disappointed that his team came up short in its quest to reach the postseason but could only hail the fighting spirit which made the German side awkward opposition for everybody.
“It’s been the same story all year, but I am very proud of the way we fought as we faced great teams,” commented the Spanish tactician, who had won two EuroLeague titles with Real Madrid. “We always stayed together and I am happy with the team’s effort.”