The hosts led the entire way, but the Greens stopped them from running away with it
Real Madrid downs Panathinaikos 90-86 in championship game rematch
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 4 of 34
Group Regular Season
w
l
w
l
l
l
w
w
Real Madrid exacted revenge by overcoming Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens, 90-86, in a hard-fought repeat of last season’s Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Championship Game. Both teams now have a 2-2 record, with the reigning champs losing twice this week.
Chus Mateo’s Real took a double-digit lead in less than four minutes, but Panathinaikos gradually battled back and it was 43-38 at halftime. Los Blancos pulled away again after the break, and held on in the final minutes. Facu Campazzo took charge for the winning team with 19 points and 6 assists, while Dzanan Musa added 15 points and Alberto Abalde scored 13. Kendrick Nunn paced Panathinaikos with 23 points, with Juancho Hernangomez hitting 4 triples on his way to 16 points, Cedi Osman scoring 13 and Ioannis Papapetrou adding 12.
The action started with Real racing ahead, 8-0, with a jumper from Eli Ndiaye plus triples from Musa and Abalde. Osman’s threeball got the Greens moving, but Ndiaye and Musa also struck from deep for a 14-3 lead. Campazzo netted 5 points in a row before Nunn’s layup and a Hernangomez triple made it closer, 19-10. Papapetrou netted twice and Hernangomez added another threeball, but Campazzo answered from deep for a 28-19 lead after 10 minutes.
Xavier Rathan-Mayes opened the second-quarter scoring with a layup, answered by Omer Yurtseven at the other end. Campazzo’s layup was bettered by Kostas Sloukas’ threeball in a slow scoring passage of play. Mathias Lessort scored his first bucket to make it 32-26, but Sergio Llull answered from deep. Papapetrou and Gaby Deck traded triples, before Hernangomez struck his third triple to pull it back to 40-34. Mario Hezonja and Nunn exchanged two-pointers, making it 43-38 at the interval.
Nunn hit a triple to pull Panathinaikos closer at the start of the third, but Musa netted 7 points in a hurry to protect the home team’s lead. Nunn struck another triple to make it 50-48, before the three-point party continued through Abalde. Walter Tavares added a dunk and Abalde scored again to complete a 9-0 run for a 59-48 lead. Musa stayed hot with a driving layup and Abalde did the same with a triple, and Deck scored in transition to make it 66-49. Tavares dunked an alley-oop, but Osman gave the Greens hope with a triple to finish the quarter, 70-58.
Deck and Llull struck from deep to protect the lead early in the fourth, and Hezonja added a thrilling alley-oop for a 78-62 advantage. But the tireless Nunn brought the Greens back with a three-point play and a jumper in a 0-9 run. Tavares dunked again to settle the host, and Campazzo’s free throws reestablished a double-digit lead, 82-71. Osman and Campazzo traded three-point blows, before Hernangomez and Lessort gave the Greens hope. Hezonja and Hernangomez both hit triples, and it was 88-81 with two minutes left. Llull’s layup gave Real breathing room, helping secure a big win.
