Panathinaikos crumble in Belgrade
 

EUROLEAGUE REGULAR SEASON - ROUND 23

Panathinaikos’ away blues are starting to appear again, with the Greeks losing 78-73 to Red Star Belgrade on the road in the EuroLeague in dramatic circumstances.

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Under the leadership of the popular Rick Pitino, Panathinaikos have been superb at the OAKA Indoor Hall, but they are now starting to show signs of frailties on the road again. Following their defeat in Valencia last week, the Athenians needed a morale-boosting victory in Serbia, however Red Star had other ideas and claimed an important 78-73 victory which gives their playoff hopes a major boost.

At the moment, Panathinaikos occupy sixth place of the standings with a 13-10 record, but they are beginning to nervously look over their shoulders with the likes of Red Star, Fenerbahce and Olimpia Milano all piling the pressure on.

Deshaun Thomas and Giorgos Papagiannis both scored 12 points for Panathinaikos. Nick Calathes was limited to five assists.

Kevin Punter, who started the season at Olympiacos, tallied 24 points as he stole the show.

On Friday, Panathinaikos will look to get back to winning ways when hosting Zenit Saint Petersburg, while Red Star travel to Khimki.

THE MATCH

There was no show of Panathinaikos’ nerves in the first period as they emphatically claimed it 21-9.

However, all of a sudden, the match turned on its head in the second, as Red Star fought back to win it 26-11 and put themselves in the box seat.

Incredibly, in what was a thrilling end-to-end contest with plenty of thrills and spills, Panathinaikos then forged ahead by winning the third frame 25-11.

Holding the momentum, Panathinaikos were favourites to see out the game successfully, but it horribly went wrong.

Panathinaikos held a seven-point lead with five minutes remaining. Nevertheless, the Athenians contrived to capitulate in the closing plays, and Punter drained a three-pointer with 52 seconds remaining to hand Red Star the advantage.

A killer blow which proved decisive. 

HIGHLIGHTS

by Shaun Nicolaides

Image Source: sportfm.gr

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