2015-16Top 16Round 7
February 12, 2016 CET: 20:45
Local time: 21:45 OLYMPIC SPORTS CENTER ATHENS

Greens ride Raduljica to victory over Efes

Panathinaikos Athens held off Anadolu Efes Istanbul 83-78 on Friday night in the Greek capital to pick up its fourth win in Group E action. With a 4-3 record, Panathinaikos is in a tie for third place, while Efes dropped to 3-4 in a share of fifth place halfway through the Top 16. The teams traded blows before halftime as Miroslav Raduljica carried the Greens to a slim 36-35 lead. The hosts built a double-digit margin in the third quarter, but Efes wasn’t going away behind Thomas Heurtel and Dario Saric. The visitors cut to within 66-64 in the fourth, but when Raduljica slowed down, Nick Calathes and James Gist stepped up to keep Panathinaikos with the lead and to finish off the job. Raduljica scored 16 of his 23 points in the first half, and also grabbed 8 rebounds. Calathes had 12 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds, while Gist collected 11 points and 8 boards. James Feldeine chipped in with 10 points and 5 assists in victory. Saric paced Efes, matching his career-high with 18 points and pulling down 6 rebounds. Derrick Brown had 16 points and 7 rebounds, Heurtel finished with 15 points and 7 assists and Jayson Granger scored 11 with 6 assists in the losing effort.

First quarter: Teams trade blows early on

Sasha Pavlovic worked his way inside to open the game, and Ognjen Kuzmic scored a second-chance basket for the hosts. But Saric hit a pull-up triple and then drove to score a layup in a crowd to make it 4-6. Calathes answered with a jumper, and Raduljica scored from close range to put the Greens back in front. Jon Diebler nailed a long jumper, and after Pavlovic scored inside, Huertel knocked down a jumper, too, tying it at 10-10. Vladimir Jankovic, fought his way inside, but Heurtel fed Ahmet Duveriouglou with a bullet pass, and the big man finished with a dunk. Cedi Osman drove for a tough layup, then took it coast-to-coast, giving Efes a 12-16 advantage. Raduljica answered with a three-point play, but Brown made a runner. In the final minute of the quarter, Raduljica shook off Dunston for a monster dunk, but Dunston had a big dunk of his own in the final second of the quarter, making it 17-20 after 10 minutes.

Second quarter: Raduljica leads the Greens to halftime lead

Heurtel made a floater and Birkan Batuk knocked down a jumper to open a 17-24 lead. Raduljica pump-faked two players to score and then add a free throw, but Heurtel dished to Brown for a two-handed dunk, and Brown also had a tip-in to extend the margin to 21-29. Antonis Fotsis had a driving layup, and after a timeout, Fotsis hit a corner triple. A Calathes-to-Gist alley-oop dunk cut it to 28-29, and after a pair of Saric free throws, Feldeine nailed one from long range, which was followed by Raduljica scoring from close range and putting the Greens in front 33-31. Tyus had an easy dunk on a bounce-pass from Granger, but Raduljica bettered it with a dunk-plus-foul. Granger’s last-second floater ended an entertaining first half and made it 36-35 at halftime.

Third quarter: Panathinaikos opens up 10-point lead

Gist had a fastbreak dunk to extend the lead, and after Granger and Calathes traded triples, Feledine added another one from downtown for the Greens, making it 45-38 and prompting an Efes timeout. Bryant made a pair of foul shots for the visitors, but Pavlovic got a lucky roll on a corner three before Raduljica scored a layup in traffic for the first double-digit lead in the game, 50-40. Saric nailed a long jumper for Efes, and Brown made a steal that led to a fastbreak layup that cut it within 52-46. Eleftherios Bochoridis and Raduljica each made a pair of free throws for the hosts, but Brown had a put-back and Heurtel a floater. Feledine nailed a long fadeaway jumper, but Heurtel bettered it with a triple to make it 58-53. Jankovic backed his way inside and banked in a tough basket, but Efes got a long jumper from Saric. Fotsis made an easy layup for the hosts, but Heurtel drove for a layup in the quarter’s last seconds to make it 64-59.

Fourth quarter: Calathes and Gist finish the job for the Greens

Heurtel nailed a long jumper, but Calathes banked in a floater in the opening minute of the quarter. Granger had a floater of his own that cut it to 66-64, but Calathes made a three-point play after a pass from Raduljica, before Raduljica himself scored inside to give the Greens breathing room at 71-64. Saric scored from close range with his left hand, but Gist answered from long range for the hosts, making it an 8-point affair. Granger drove for a layup to keep Efes in striking range with four minutes to go, but Gist made a tip-in for the hosts, and Jankovic nailed a three-pointer to restore a 10-point margin, 79-69. Gist and Heurtel traded baskets, before Saric had a put-back-plus-foul that gave Efes hope with 58 seconds to go, 81-76. However, Feldeine hit Calathes with a long pass for an easy layup with 17 seconds remaining, sealing the deal before Granger rounded out the scoring.

Miroslav Raduljica - Panathinaikos Athens - EB15
Friday, February 12, 2016
Euroleague.net
Referees: BOLTAUZER, MATEJ; RADOVIC, SRETEN; JIMENEZ, BENJAMIN
Attendance: 10050
By Quarter1234
Panathinaikos Athens17192819
Anadolu Efes Istanbul20152419
End of Quarter1234
Panathinaikos Athens17366483
Anadolu Efes Istanbul20355978
Panathinaikos Athens
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 PAVLOVIC, SASHA 22:26 9 2/4 1/1 2/2       1 1 1     3 1 6
7 BOCHORIDIS, ELEFTHERIOS 3:09 2     2/2       1         1 1 3
8 JANKOVIC, VLADIMIR 19:26 7 2/3 1/3 0/1 1   1 2 1 1     5 2 3
9 FOTSIS, ANTONIS 22:15 7 2/2 1/4     3 3 1 1       2 1 8
10 RADULJICA, MIROSLAV 27:10 23 8/12   7/10 5 3 8 2 1 5   1 3 10 28
12 FELDEINE, JAMES 36:01 10 1/4 2/4 2/2   1 1 5 2 2   1 1 3 12
13 DIAMANTIDIS, DIMITRIS 6:10           1 1               1
14 GIST, JAMES 25:35 11 4/7 1/2   2 6 8 1   2     3   11
15 CALATHES, NICK 34:07 12 4/11 1/2 1/1 1 4 5 6 1     1 2 3 16
19 PAPAGIANNIS, GEORGIOS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
20 LOUNTZIS, MICHALIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 KUZMIC, OGNJEN 3:41 2 1/3     1   1         1      
Team           3 5 8     1         7
Totals 200:00 83 24/46 7/16 14/18 13 23 36 19 7 12 0 4 20 21 95
        52.2% 43.8% 77.8%
Head coach: DJORDJEVIC, SASA
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
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 TYUS, ALEX 8:05 2 1/4     2   2       2   2 1 2
4 BALBAY, DOGUS 8:00                         1   -1
5 BROWN, DERRICK 27:05 16 5/11 0/1 6/9 3 4 7 2   2 1   2 7 19
6 OSMAN, CEDI 18:22 4 2/3 0/2           1       1   1
8 BATUK, BIRKAN 11:58 2 1/1       1 1   2 1     3   1
9 SARIC, DARIO 24:40 18 5/5 1/5 5/5 3 3 6     3       5 22
10 KORKMAZ, FURKAN 4:42   0/1     1 1 2           1 1 1
15 GRANGER, JAYSON 28:56 11 4/7 1/5   1 2 3 6           3 16
31 HEURTEL, THOMAS 26:24 15 6/8 1/3     2 2 7   3     2   15
33 DIEBLER, JON 21:45 2 1/1 0/2     1 1 1 1       4   -1
42 DUNSTON, BRYANT 17:02 6 1/1   4/6 1 2 3       1   3 3 8
44 DUVERIOGLU, AHMET 3:01 2 1/1                     2    
Team             3 3     1         2
Totals 200:00 78 27/43 3/18 15/20 11 19 30 16 4 10 4 0 21 20 85
        62.8% 16.7% 75%
Head coach: IVKOVIC, DUSAN

Head Coaches

DJORDJEVIC, SASA
Panathinaikos Athens
"I think that this victory is the most important of all we have had this season in the Euroleague. We implemented some things that we are trying in practice and I like it. We are a team in the whole meaning of the word, because all the players made their effort and gave everything they had. We read their game successfully and reached a great win. Diamantidis had an injury, but proved once again how brave he is and tried to give us help. Pavlovic and Jankovic missed some practices this week and in general we didn't get prepared in the best possible way. Our mistake occurred in the first period, when we tried to score individually, but managed to become more collective, to improve our defense and move the ball much better."
IVKOVIC, DUSAN
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
"It has been a tough and very interesting game, in which Panathinaikos played better and deserved to win. We started well, but as the time was going by, we lost the control and allowed them to play their game. In a very critical time, we missed five three-point shots, three of them in a row, and that was a problem. Some of my players weren't ready to play that game, especially when Panathinaikos tried playing small ball by using four perimeter players. I think that not only the victories, but the point margins as well, will play a major role in the final standings. The Euroleague is a very tough competition, where all games are difficult and crucial. We are lacking experience, but we have to keep working and playing the best we can."

Players

CALATHES, NICK
Panathinaikos Athens
"It is a great win against a good opponent. We did our job and I am happy because we have a lot of players who can provide good things. Miroslav Raduljica is one of them, but tonight everybody played his role. I think that in the near future we will become better than tonight. Energy is a major reason for what happened tonight here."
RADULJICA, MIROSLAV
Panathinaikos Athens
"We played against a good team in a tough and difficult game. The key point for us to win was the fact that we kept our energy in the whole match and we didn't spend it without reason. We played together up to the end and took a very important victory."
JANKOVIC, VLADIMIR
Panathinaikos Athens
"We considered and prepared for this as the game of the year so far. We all feel very well, because of the much-needed and desired victory. Now we are 4-3 and looking forward to the second half of the Top 16. Two new players will be added to our team and hopefully we will become tougher. We know what to do and how to do it, since Panathinaikos has good and experienced players. There's a long road still and this is not the time to talk a lot. Tonight, Miroslav Raduljica has been a real rock, but everybody has to give his best for the team on every given night."