After taking both wins in the last double-round week of the season, Panathinaikos (20-11) knows it controls its own fate in the race for a top four finish ahead of a trip to free-falling Virtus (17-4).
Game Notes: Virtus vs. Panathinaikos
The Italian team will hope that experienced Toko Shengelia can contain the marauding presence of Mathias Lessort and Dinos Mitoglou, and needs an injury-hit backcourt to step up against a Greens set of guards led offensively by Kostas Sloukas and Kendrick Nunn. Mitoglou was an unstoppable force when the teams met in November, powering 24 points and 10 rebounds in a 90-76 home victory, and Virtus faces a tough task in turning around recent momentum after losing four games in a row.
- Panathinaikos beat Virtus 90-76 in Round 9 with Jerian Grant making a career-best 5 steals.
- Panathinaikos and Virtus first met in 1984. Panathinaikos shocked Virtus 83-89 to win the 2002 EuroLeague championship as the only champion this century to lift the trophy on the losing team's home floor.
- Panathinaikos guard Marius Grigonis was a teammate of the Virtus trio of Daniel Hackett, Tornike Shengelia and Iffe Lundberg at CSKA Moscow during the 2021-22 season.
- Virtus big man Bryant Dunston was a teammate of Panathinaikos forward Ioannis Papapetrou and guard Kostas Sloukas at Olympiacos Piraeus from 2013 to 2015. They reached the EuroLeague championship game together in 2015. Dunston was also a teammate of Sloukas at Aris Thessaloniki during the 2010-11 season.
- Virtus center Bryant Dunston played under Panathinaikos head coach Ergin Ataman for the last five seasons, from 2018 to 2023. Together they won the 2021 and 2022 EuroLeague titles.
- Virtus forward Achille Polonara also played under Ataman at Efes in the first part of the 2022-23 season.
- Papapetrou was a teammate of Virtus guard Daniel Hackett at Olympiacos for two seasons, from 2015 to 2017. They reached the EuroLeague championship game in 2017 together.
- Panathinaikos center Mathias Lessort has been a teammate of Virtus forward Isaia Cordinier on the French national team at the 2023 World Cup.
- Panathinaikos center Mathias Lessort and Virtus center Ante Zizic were teammates at Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv for the first part of the 2021-22 season
- Lessort was a teammate of Ognjen Dobric at Crvena Zvezda during the 2017-18 season.
- Dobric and Panathinaikos point guard Luca Vildoza were teammates at Zvezda last season.
- Luca Vildoza posted his career high with 11 free throws made playing for Zvezda against Virtus in January of last season.
- Virtus guard Iffe Lundberg dished a career-high 8 assists in an 88-85 overtime loss in Athens in November of last season.
- The last time these two teams played in Bologna, Virtus won 74-64 win in January 2023 as Virtus forward Tornike Shengelia tied his career high with 7 assists.
- Shengelia had originally set that career-high of 7 assists playing for Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in an 86-77 home win over Panathinaikos during the 2018-19 season.
- Virtus forward Achille Polonara posted his career highs in PIR (36), three-pointers made (5) and defensive rebounds (11) playing for Baskonia against Panathinaikos in March 2021.
- Virtus's Awudu Abass scored a career-high 15 points for EA7 Emporio Armani Milan against Panathinaikos in March 2017.
- Dunston grabbed a career-high 4 steals for Anadolu Efes Istanbul against Panathinaikos in January 2022.