2013-14Top 16Round 2
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria 64
Panathinaikos Athens 72
January 10, 2014 CET: 20:30
Local time: 20:30 FERNANDO BUESA ARENA

Lasme, Diamantidis lead Panathinaikos to victory in Vitoria

Panathinaikos Athens opened the fourth quarter on a 4-17 tear to take the lead for good en route to a 64-72 victory over Laboral Kutxa Vitoria at Fernando Buesa Arena to join FC Barcelona for a share of first place in Top 16 Group E. The Greens improved their record to 2-0, while dropping Vitoria to 1-1. Panathinaikos led throughout the first half before Thomas Heurtel fueled the hosts in the third period. But the duo of Stephane Lasme and Dimitris Diamantidis were joined by Ramel Curry and Mike Bramos in making big shots to pave the way to victory. Lasme led the winners with 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting, much of which came via Diamantidis assists. The playmaker tallied 12 points and 9 assists, while James Gist and Curry netted 10 points apiece. Tibor Pleiss led the locals with 17 points and Heurtel scored 13 in defeat.

First quarter: Greens’ bigs take charge early

Diamantidis made his presence known from the start. The Greens won the opening tip and he sank a three before assisting backcourt mate Roko Ukic for the next basket. Heurtel got the hosts on the scoreboard. The big men made some noise as Gist threw down a slam at one end and Pleiss sank a hook at the other. Lasme split free throws after drawing Pleiss’s first foul; the Laboral center tied the game at 8-8. Lasme with a tip in and Gist with a spin move put Panathinaikos back in front. A Heurtel steal led to a three and Andres Nocioni’s first basket put Laboral up 13-12. Jonas Maciulis returned the lead to the visitors before the TV timeout. Diamantidis lofted a pass to Lasme for a slam. After Lasme intercepted an inbounds pass, Gist free throws capped a 0-8 run that made it 13-20. Heurtel fed Ilimane Diop for a slam before a reverse slam by Adam Hanga closed the gap to 3. Lasme sank a mid-range jumper on one side and drew a charge from Hanga at the other. Diamantidis free throws gave the Greens a 17-24 lead after 10 minutes.

Second quarter: Laboral fights back to tie score twice

David Jelinek excited the fans with a three-pointer. Diamantidis caught the Laboral defense napping and found Antonis Fotsis for an uncontested layup in transition. Mike Bramos connected from outside. Pleiss free throws kept Laboral within striking distance, 23-28, midway through the quarter. A Fabien Causeur triple further trimmed the deficit. Causeur added free throws before Pleiss tied that game at 30-30 with a hook shot. After a timeout, Diamantidis and Mike Batiste played the pick-and-pop, which resulted in a jumper for the big man. Nocioni evened things from the line. Batiste converted on the offensive glass and after Diop missed twice from the line in the closing seconds of the half, the visitors held a 32-34 edge at the break.

Third quarter: Heurtel carries Vitoria into the lead

Nikos Pappas started the second half for the Greens, but struggled. He committed an unsportsmanlike foul on Pleiss in the paint before getting called for an unsportsmanlike foul. A San Emeterio triple gave Vitoria its first lead. Heurtel set Pleiss up for an alley-oop slam before Causeur dropped a pass behind him on the break for a Heurtel layup and a 41-35 lead. Diamantidis got the Greens going again with a pick-and-roll with Lasme that led to a vicious two-handed jam for the big man. Diamantidis hooked up with Lasme again in transition before his third straight bucket tied the game at 41-41. Gist capped a 0-8 Panathinaikos run before Heurtel tied the game with a layup. Heurtel pulled up in transition for a jumper to restore the hosts’ lead. Nocioni added a basket before a Panathinaikos timeout. Nocioni rejected Maciulis and Hanga extended the lead to 6. Curry came alive with 5 quick points, but the arena erupted with a Jelinek triple from midcourt at the third-quarter buzzer to make it 52-48.

Fourth quarter: Panathinaikos uses 4-17 charge to pull away

Diamantidis quieted the crowd with a three-point play to open the quarter. Hanga placed a perfect pass to Pleiss for a slam, but Curry bettered them with a three to tie the score at 54-54. Fotsis drained a three and Curry a mid-range jumper to cap a 2-11 Panathinaikos charge. Heurtel hooked up with Pleiss to make it 56-59 with five minutes to play. Bramos countered with a three… and after Nocioni missed from behind the arc, Diamantidis buried a triple to make it 56-65. The crowd came alive as Nocioni rose to reject Ukic and San Emeterio scored on the break seconds later. However Gist free throws kept the visitors comfortable ahead. A Hanga tip-in closed the difference to 60-67 with just over a minute to go. Diamantidis and Lasme ran the pick-and-roll to perfection once more. Heurtel responded quickly woth a bucket. Lasme free throws with 31.8 seconds remaining practically iced the game as Panathinaikos marched to a key road win.

Michael Bramos - Panathinaikos Athens - EB13
Friday, January 10, 2014
Euroleague.net
Referees: RYZHYK, BORYS; LOTTERMOSER, ROBERT; JAVOR, DAMIR
Attendance: 10120 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria17152012
Panathinaikos Athens24101424
End of Quarter1234
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria17325264
Panathinaikos Athens24344872
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 MAINOLDI, LEO 14:03   0/1 0/3   1 2 3 1           1 1
5 NOCIONI, ANDRES 30:49 8 3/5 0/3 2/2   10 10 2 2 5 3   4 6 17
6 POETA, GIUSEPPE 5:46     0/1                       -1
7 VAN OOSTRUM, DEVON DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 HANGA, ADAM 12:28 6 3/4 0/3   1   1 2   1     3   1
12 DIOP, ILIMANE 7:13 2 1/1   0/2 1   1     1     2 2  
15 HODGE, WALTER 5:24     0/1     1 1                
19 SAN EMETERIO, FERNANDO 29:53 7 2/2 1/2   1 2 3     3     3 1 4
21 PLEISS, TIBOR 25:34 17 6/9   5/6 1 3 4   1 4   1 2 6 17
22 HEURTEL, THOMAS 28:50 13 5/5 1/4     3 3 6 1 1     3 1 17
25 JELINEK, DAVID 12:14 6 0/1 2/2           1 1     2 1 4
55 CAUSEUR, FABIEN 27:46 5 0/1 1/5 2/2       4 1       3 1 3
Team             2 2     1         1
Totals 200:00 64 20/29 5/24 9/12 5 23 28 15 6 17 3 1 22 19 64
        69% 20.8% 75%
Head coach: SCARIOLO, SERGIO
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Panathinaikos Athens
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
6 BRAMOS, MICHAEL 19:31 5 1/1 1/4     2 2 1 1         2 8
7 CURRY, RAMEL 14:45 10 2/3 2/2           1 2   1 1 1 7
8 BATISTE, MIKE 5:32 4 2/3     1   1           2   2
9 FOTSIS, ANTONIS 23:26 5 1/1 1/1   1 5 6     1 1   3   8
10 UKIC, ROKO 30:05 4 2/8 0/3   1 2 3 1 2 2   1 1 1 -2
11 LASME, STEPHANE 18:55 20 8/9   4/6 1 1 2 1 1 1     4 4 20
12 MAVROKEFALIDIS, LOUKAS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 DIAMANTIDIS, DIMITRIS 32:59 12 1/3 2/5 4/5   2 2 9 2 3     2 8 22
14 GIST, JAMES 30:26 10 3/3 0/1 4/4   3 3 1 2 2     3 2 12
15 PAPPAS, NIKOS 1:49   0/1       2 2     1     2   -2
16 JANKOVIC, VLADIMIR 0:06                              
18 MACIULIS, JONAS 22:26 2 1/3 0/2 0/2   4 4 2 1 1   1 1 4 4
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 72 21/35 6/18 12/17 5 22 27 15 10 13 1 3 19 22 81
        60% 33.3% 70.6%
Head coach: PEDOULAKIS, ARGYRIS

Head Coaches

SCARIOLO, SERGIO
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria
"We had a difficult start in this game, but we managed to have a better control of the rhythm at the end of the first quarter, during the second and also in the third, but we committed a few mistakes in the early going during the last period and that opened a little gap between us. We lost our strength and composure a little bit then, we took some shots too early, committed some turnovers we could have avoided, and allowed their shooters open shots, which we had under control until that moment in the game. Panathinaikos is a great team, with a lot of talent and experience. It’s a high-class team that also possesses a lot of physical strength and athleticism in every position. We fought face to face against them, but in the last period they demonstrated that they have something more. They deserved the win. "
PEDOULAKIS, ARGYRIS
Panathinaikos Athens
"It was a very good win for us because Laboral Kutxa was in very good condition in the last games. I think that the key of the game was the rhythm. Second for us, it was important to make less mistakes than we did in the previous games, when we committed too many of them. The most important thing tonight was our defense. We managed to break their excellent passing game. Only in the beginning of the third quarter we lost our concentration, but we recovered our focus in the last period. It’s a very tough group, with many good teams. It’s going to be a big fight until the end. I hope we can be healthy because we have a lot of games ahead of us and any team can beat anybody."

Players

HEURTEL, THOMAS
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria
"It was a very tough game for us. We were able to play a little bit better only in the third quarter, but in the end our defense wasn’t as good as it should have been, and a team like Panathinaikos never wastes an opportunity, they don’t miss. We knew before the game that they are very physical team, that it wasn’t going to be easy against players like Gist or Lasme, they can defend any player in any position."
LASME, STEPHANE
Panathinaikos Athens
"I think we are probably a better team defensively than we were in the first round, but I also think that they played out of their real potential tonight. They are a very dangerous team, but tonight they missed some shots. I’m proud of the team, we were able to come here and get the win. We started the season with a lot of injuries and it took some time to get in shape and to build the team, know each other and communicate well on court, but we are in a good moment now and hopefully we’ll get better. "
UKIC, ROKO
Panathinaikos Athens
"We are too experienced a team not to recognize what we did wrong in previous games. Last time we came here we started the game terribly and even though we recovered in the end, we couldn’t bring the game to our side. I think we played much tougher tonight, not especially in offense but in defense, and that’s our style. We are in better shape now, we are better physically. During the season we went through into a lot of injuries and problems, but now we are getting better and we are in good momentum. We have to try to maintain that."
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