2018-19Regular SeasonRound 30
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 87
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica 67
April 04, 2019 CET: 20:00
Local time: 21:00 OLYMPIC SPORTS CENTER ATHENS

Calathes powers Panathinaikos into playoffs

Panathinaikos OPAP Athens surged into the playoffs with a commanding 87-67 home victory over Buducnost VOLI Podgorica, securing a sixth-place finish and a playoff matchup with Real Madrid for the second consecutive season. Nick Calathes once again orchestrated his team's efforts, registering the competition's first triple-double since 2006 with 11 points, a career-high 18 assists and 11 rebounds. James Gist also excelled, pairing a season-high 23 points with 6 rebounds. DeShaun Thomas added 17 points and Ioannis Papapetrou had 12 points and 8 boards. The early stages were closely contested, but Panathinaikos surged clear before halftime and was never in serious danger after that. Buducnost finished the season with a 6-24 record. Teenage big man Goga Bitadze paced the visitors with 16 points and 8 rebounds and Norris Cole scored 14.

Georgios Papagiannis and Sean Kilpatrick kept Panathinaikos in touch early on as Bitadze and Earl Clark both struck triples. It was tied at 13-13 after 5 minutes. Three-pointers from Keith Langford and Gist sent Panathinaikos ahead, but 4 quick points from Danilo Nikolic pulled the visitors back to 23-21 at the end of the first. Nikolic and Bitadze brought Buducnost level early in the second. Cole scored three consecutive baskets for a 30-32 lead. Free throws pushed Panathinaikos in front and Gist scored twice from close range for a 42-34 edge. A triple and a layup from Thomas stretched that lead, which became 49-36 after Calathes and Gist beat the halftime buzzer with a trademark alley-oop. Edwin Jackson started the second half with a triple, but Thomas responded in kind and strong defense kept the hosts well ahead during a low-scoring passage of play. Gordic drained a pair of triples to reignite Buducnost, which completed a 0-8 run with a Filip Barovic basket. Gist and Calathes got Panathinaikos moving again, but Clark struck from deep and it was 66-56 after three quarters. James Bell's three-pointer briefly got the margin down to single digits, but more free throws steadied Panathinaikos and a transition dunk by Gist off another Calathes assist removed all doubt as the final stages were played in a celebratory atmosphere.

Calathes close to assists record

In addition to recording the competition's first triple-double since 2006, Panathinaikos point guard Nick Calathes also set a new personal best for assists with 18. That blew away his previous high of 16 and took him very close to tying the EuroLeague's single-game record of 19, set by Stefan Jovic for Crvena Zvezda against Bayern Munich in 2015.

Second quarter run seals deal

Buducnost fought hard early and led 30-32 with 6 minutes of the first half remaining. But then a mid-range strike from Ian Vougioukas sparked a strong Panathinaikos surge to finish the half, with a 19-4 run establishing a double-digit halftime lead which Buducnost was never able to threaten.

Free throws lift Panathinaikos

In addition to Calathes's heroics, another notable stat was the home side attempting a season-high 29 shots from the free throw line. 21 of those were made, including 4 in the space of 71 seconds during the key second-quarter run as Panathinaikos raced clear. Importantly, the physical approach of Buducnost saw big men Goga Bitadze and Filip Barovic both reach 3 fouls before halftime and eventually foul out.

Next game

Panathinaikos will meet Real Madrid in the playoffs after a week-long break. The first and second games will be played in the Spanish capital in the week commencing 15 April. Buducnost has completed its first EuroLeague season since 2002-03 and will aim to return to next season's competition by winning the Adriatic League playoffs.

Nick Calathes - Panathinaikos OPAP Athens - EB18
Thursday, April 4, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: HIERREZUELO, DANIEL; LATISEVS, OLEGS; ISGUDER, SINAN
Attendance: 13312
By Quarter1234
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens23261721
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica21152011
End of Quarter1234
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens23496687
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica21365667
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 THOMAS, DESHAUN 33:21 17 3/6 2/4 5/6 1 4 5   1 2 1   2 4 18
5 LANGFORD, KEITH 15:24 4 0/6 1/3 1/1   1 1           1 2 -2
6 PAPAGIANNIS, GEORGIOS 12:01 6 3/4     1 1 2 1 1 1 1   2 1 8
10 PAPAPETROU, IOANNIS 33:07 12 4/6 0/4 4/6 2 6 8 2 1 1     2 7 19
14 GIST, JAMES 19:46 23 6/7 1/1 8/12 2 4 6 2   1 1   1 6 31
15 VOUGIOUKAS, IAN 13:40 5 1/3   3/4 1 3 4       1   3 2 6
19 LEKAVICIUS, LUKAS 3:16                              
23 KILPATRICK, SEAN 24:36 7 2/6 1/1     2 2 1 1 1       1 7
24 LOJESKI, MATT 6:53     0/1                   2   -3
33 CALATHES, NICK 36:44 11 4/9 1/4   3 9 12 18 1 6     2 3 29
43 ANTETOKOUNMPO, THANASIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
44 MITOGLOU, KONSTANTINOS 1:12 2 1/1                         2
Team           2 1 3               3
Totals 200:00 87 24/48 6/18 21/29 12 31 43 24 5 12 4 0 15 26 118
        50% 33.3% 72.4%
Head coach: PITINO, RICK
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
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 JACKSON, EDWIN 29:09 3 0/2 1/4     3 3 1   2   1 4   -5
3 COLE, NORRIS 29:26 14 6/12 0/4 2/2 1 5 6 7 2 5   1 2 2 13
4 SEHOVIC, SUAD 4:18                         2   -2
5 CLARK, EARL 21:43 10 2/10 2/3   2 2 4   1 1   1 2   2
6 BAROVIC, FILIP 11:51 4 2/3       1 1     2     5 5 2
8 SEHOVIC, SEAD DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
10 GORDIC, NEMANJA 24:50 10 2/4 2/4     1 1 6 1 2     1 2 13
11 BITADZE, GOGA 23:15 16 3/4 1/3 7/8   8 8 2 2 2   1 5 5 21
30 POPOVIC, PETAR 4:00                              
31 BELL, JAMES 28:17 3 0/1 1/5   1 4 5   2 2     2   1
34 NIKOLIC, DANILO 19:41 7 2/2 1/5   1 2 3 2   1     2 1 6
41 WILLIAMS, DEVIN 3:30           1 1           2   -1
Team           4   4     1         3
Totals 200:00 67 17/38 8/28 9/10 9 27 36 18 8 18 0 4 27 15 53
        44.7% 28.6% 90%
Head coach: REPESA, JASMIN

Head Coaches

PITINO, RICK
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
“I’m elated. If they were going to be beat us, it would be in transition and from the three point line, but they were 8-of-28 from the three point line so we did our job there. Nick Calathes got his first triple-double, and if he’s not MVP of the league I don’t know who is because he’s brilliant. James Gist gave us a big life, all the guys played terrific. I replaced an outstanding coach. He’s every bit as good as me or any other coach in the EuroLeague. But the guys had to change their culture, for defense and offense, they had to change their whole mindset. Because they were hanging their heads when they lost rather than doing something about it. So I give the guys all the credit in the world, because they changed the culture. And now we’re in sixth place, going to the playoffs. Because we play so hard, and we’ve got such a great attitude, of course we’re dangerous. But I don’t think Real Madrid will lose sleep because they’re at home. We’re super-excited to reach the playoffs, and we dedicate this game to the godfather of this program who passed away. Dimitris lost three uncles in the past year, and that’s not easy. We dedicated this game to a great uncle who bled green, and I think he’s smiling upstairs from heaven.”
REPESA, JASMIN
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
“Congratulations to the home team and good luck in the playoffs. Except for the last four minutes of the first half, and the last five minutes of the game, we controlled the rhythm of the game, playing pretty good. But we lost focus offensively and defensively, in parts of both halves. We let them run to score easy baskets and score after offensive rebounds and dominate us. The season was tough for this club, after many years playing again in the EuroLeague, changing the coach and changing the roster during the season is not easy. For a young club in EuroLeague it’s difficult even if you don’t change anything. It’s not easy even for clubs with much bigger budgets than ours if they change their roster a lot. Clubs who are able to keep continuity definitely have a big advantage. We tried, we competed, and maybe we should have had some more wins. We played good games against Barcelona, Fenerbahce, Zalgiris, Khimki…with three or four more wins it would be a different picture.”

Players

CALATHES, NICK
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
“It feels good, it’s an honor to be next to that guy [Nikola Vujcic], considering he was a legend as a player and what he accomplished. I got close a lot in the last couple of years, it feels good to get it but even better to be in the playoffs after what we’ve been through as a team, winning 7 of the last 8 is the most important thing and we’re playing our best basketball now. We always believed as a team. We’re a veteran team, and the coaches and players believed we could be in this position because we knew we could get better. I don’t know how many people believed on the outside but in that locker room every one believed. [On the playoffs against Real Madrid] We owe them one for sure, we’re going to be a tough team. It’s going to be a grind for both teams, and we’re confident we can go there and beat them in their home court.”
GIST, JAMES
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
“We didn’t know how it was going to happen but we believed, that’s all that mattered. Everyone was against us and down on our season and rightfully so - the games weren’t looking good and the team wasn’t in good shape, but we stuck together and worked hard and that’s all that mattered. Nick does a bit of everything - he plays defense, he facilitates, he scores. He keeps pressure on the defense, you can’t guard him for just one thing. He’s real special. [On Real Madrid] We’ve got to get back to drawing board, I don’t want to speculate on anything but we worked hard to get to this point and we’re ready for the playoffs.”
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