Panathinaikos nails 16 threes to beat Galatasaray

Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens matched the most three-pointers hit by any team in the EuroLeague this season with 16 in defeating Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul 79-84 at Abdi Ipekci Arena on Friday evening. Mike James was one of five Greens with multiple three-pointers and scored 18 points off the bench to lead the winners, who improved to 12-9 and no worse than seventh place after the remainder of the Round 21 games are completed. James Feldeine made 5 of 6 threes for 15 points, Chris Singleton also scored 15 for Panathinaikos and Nick Calathes amassed 10 points and 7 assists. Panathinaikos made 51.6% of its threes and also forced 16 Galatasaray turnovers to get the victory. Galatasaray fell to 6-15 despite a strong offensive effort. Tibor Pleiss paced the attack with 15 points, Blake Schilb and Vladimir Micov scored 14 each, Jon Diebler netted 11 on perfect shooting and Sinan Guler also scored 11.

Feldeine opened the scoring with a three-pointer for the Greens, but Micov answered in kind to spark a 12-0 Galatasaray run. After Guler’s beautiful long assist to Schilb, Panathinaikos regrouped with a timeout and Ioannis Bourousis ended a four-minute drought. Despite the Greens’ revival, a second Micov triple and a basket-plus-foul from Pleiss extended the hosts’ advantage to 20-9. Feldeine hit another three and then assisted on a Demetris Nichols triple. James ended the first quarter with a three that closed the gap to 24-18. Galatasaray scored the first two baskets of the second quarter to restore a double-digit lead. Singleton and Kenny Gabriel buried back-to-back threes and Nikos Pappas drove for a slam to get the Greens within 31-29 midway through the second quarter. Singleton added another three and a slam to complete a 0-13 Panathinaikos run that gave the visitors the lead. Guler hit a three to tie the game at 34-34. K.C. Rivers sank a three-pointer and Singleton netted free throws for Panathinaikos, but Guler beat the buzzer with a layup to make it 40-43 at halftime.

Feldeine’s third and fourth threes of the game saw the visitors extend their lead to 44-51 three minutes into the third quarter. Calathes’s first three boosted the Greens’ advantage to double figures. And then Feldeine capped a 0-9 run with his fifth three from as many tries. Calathes continued the three-point shootout to put Panathinaikos up 46-60. Schilb struck back with the hosts’ next 10 points to bring Galatasaray within 56-62. Back-to-back Diebler triples and Pleiss free throws made it a 1-point game, but James hit 3 free throws to give the visitors a 64-68 lead after three quarters. James hit a triple and scored 7 points in a 0-9 run that pushed the margin to 66-77 with six minutes remaining. Guler scored 4 in a 6-0 push to get Galatasaray back in the game. However Panathinaikos kept the home team scoreless for the next three-plus minutes and restored a double-digit cushion on a three by Rivers. Galatasaray battled on to get within 5 in the final minute with the ball, but missed and Panathinaikos ran out the clock to snag the win.