2020-21Regular SeasonRound 23
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 91
Valencia Basket 72
January 29, 2021 CET: 20:00
Local time: 21:00 OAKA

The Greens dominate Valencia on jubilee night

Panathinaikos OPAP Athens never trailed and protected its home floor once again by downing visiting Valencia Basket 91-72 on Friday. In its 500th EuroLeague game this century, six-time champion Panathinaikos improved to 8-14 on the season, registering its third straight home win. Meanwhile, Valencia suffered its third consecutive loss, and sixth in the last seven games, to drop to 11-12. Panathinaikos took control right away, and used an 11-0 second-quarter run to pull away for good, never allowing Valencia to cut the deficit to single digits. Nemanja Nedovic paced the winners with 16 points and 7 assists. Aaron White and Eleftherios Bochoridis scored 12 apiece. And Konstantinos Mitoglou collected 11 points and 7 rebounds. Valencia's Klemen Prepelic led all scorers with 20 points. Martin Hermannsson had 13 and Vanja Marinkovic netted 11 in a losing effort.

The teams exchanged layups before back-to-back dunks by Nedovic and Georgios Papagiannis made it 8-4. Marinkovic knocked down a pair of triples for Valencia, but the Greens ruled the offensive glass and got to the free throw line often while Papagiannis scored 6 more points, including a long jumper, for a 20-10 lead. Hermannsson entered and strung together 7 unanswered points for the visitors, sinking a mid-range jumper and a triple before driving for a layup. A three-pointer from Derrick Williams cut the deficit to 22-20 after 10 minutes, but Panathinaikos started the second quarter with more second-chance baskets to stay in front. Nedovic hit a corner triple between a pair of layups by Bojan Dubljevic for Valencia. After Zach Auguste scored twice in close, Nedovic downed a long three and a fastbreak dunk to open a 42-28 difference. Mike Tobey snapped an 11-0 Panathinaikos run with a dunk but corner triples from Ben Bentil and Ioannis Papapetrou pushed Panathinaikos to a 48-34 cushion at halftime.

Mitoglou opened the second half with a three-point play and Papapetrou scored inside to extend the margin to 19 points. Prepelic scored 10 points in the opening 5 minutes of the quarter, including a triple, and Nikola Kalinic beat a shot-clock with a three-pointer to get the visitors within 59-48. However, Shelvin Mack and Bentil scored from close range to reopen a big lead, 66-48. The hosts' defense held Valencia to a single basket for almost 4 minutes, and even though the Greens started to struggle offensively themselves, they took 68-52 into the fourth quarter. Marinkovic hit a tough triple and Sam Van Rossom drove for a reverse layup, but Papapetrou and Mitoglou scored inside, before Bochoridis knocked down a corner triple for a game-high 80-60 margin midway through the fourth quarter. Prepelic hit a pair of triples in the final minutes, but Valencia never threatened as Panathinaikos cruised to victory.

500 game milestone

This game marked a momentous occasion, the 500th EuroLeague game this century for Panathinaikos, the fifth team to reach that milestone. Panathinaikos has 301-199 record in those games.

Key quarter

Panathinaikos built a double-digit lead that it never relinquished in the second quarter. The Greens shot 4-for-8 from three-point range in that quarter, compared to 2-for-13 the rest of the game. Valencia was 0-for-5 in the second quarter from behind the arc.

Inside dominance

Panathinaikos not only outrebounded the visitors 39-27, but it made 27 of 42 two-point shots (64.3%) compared to Valencia's 13-for-30 (43.3%).

Frontcourt production

Panathinaikos got production from its entire front line. Aaron White had 12 points and 5 rebounds; Konstantinos Mitoglou had 11 points and 7 boards; Georgios Papagiannis posted 8 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks; Zach Auguste scored 8 points; and Ben Bentil had 7 points.

Next week

In Round 24, Valencia will be at home to face CSKA Moscow, while Panathinaikos will be away from home play its arch rival Olympiacos Piraeus.

Nemanja Nedovic - Panathinaikos OPAP Athens - EB20
Friday, January 29, 2021
Euroleague.net
Referees: LATISEVS, OLEGS; PASTUSIAK, PIOTR; PANTHER, ANNE
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens22262023
Valencia Basket20141820
End of Quarter1234
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens22486891
Valencia Basket20345272
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 MACK, SHELVIN 18:48 4 1/2 0/3 2/3   2 2 3 1       2 2 5
6 PAPAGIANNIS, GEORGIOS 22:14 8 4/5     4 5 9 1     2   2   17
7 BOCHORIDIS, ELEFTHERIOS 27:17 12 2/3 2/3 2/2   3 3 5 1       4 4 19
8 AUGUSTE, ZACH 17:46 8 4/5   0/2 1 1 2 2 2 2     4 3 8
10 PAPAPETROU, IOANNIS 19:34 9 3/4 1/2     4 4 1   3       1 10
14 KASELAKIS, LEONIDAS 8:37 2 1/1       1 1           1   2
16 KALAITZAKIS, GEORGIOS 3:27 2     2/2 1 1 2           2 2 4
17 FOSTER, MARCUS FRANKLEE 6:25   0/2 0/1                 1 2   -6
26 NEDOVIC, NEMANJA 25:11 16 2/2 2/11 6/7   1 1 7 1 3     1 3 14
30 WHITE, AARON 19:17 12 3/4   6/6 4 1 5 1   3     2 3 15
44 MITOGLOU, KONSTANTINOS 23:58 11 5/10   1/2 2 5 7 2 2 1   2 1 4 16
50 BENTIL, BEN 7:26 7 2/4 1/1 0/1   1 1 1 2 1   2 2 1 4
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 91 27/42 6/21 19/25 13 26 39 23 9 13 2 5 23 23 110
        64.3% 28.6% 76%
Head coach: KATTASH, ODED
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
Valencia Basket
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 MARINKOVIC, VANJA 15:39 11 1/2 3/8     1 1     1     3   2
3 PREPELIC, KLEMEN 22:27 20 1/2 3/8 9/9   1 1 1 1 2     1 7 21
4 PRADILLA, JAIME DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
6 PUERTO, JOSEP 9:17               1         1 1 1
7 LABEYRIE, LOUIS 23:25 3   0/4 3/4   1 1 1 2   2   3 2 3
9 VAN ROSSOM, SAM 23:17 3 1/3 0/1 1/2   3 3 5   3     1 3 6
10 TOBEY, MIKE 18:01 9 3/8 1/1 0/1 5   5 1   2 1   2 2 8
12 KALINIC, NIKOLA 24:52 6 1/1 1/2 1/2 1 2 3 2 2 1 1   2 3 12
14 DUBLJEVIC, BOJAN 21:59 4 2/5 0/1   1 4 5 3   2 1 1 2 1 5
19 SAN EMETERIO, FERNANDO 10:05   0/2               1     4   -7
21 WILLIAMS, DERRICK 10:07 3   1/2     1 1           4 1  
24 HERMANNSSON, MARTIN 20:51 13 4/7 1/1 2/2   2 2 5   2   1 2 2 14
Team           3 2 5               5
Totals 200:00 72 13/30 10/28 16/20 10 17 27 19 5 14 5 2 25 22 70
        43.3% 35.7% 80%
Head coach: PONSARNAU, JAUME

Head Coaches

KATTASH, ODED
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
"Obviously, it was a very good game for us, and I am very happy with the way we controlled Valencia. That is not easy. They know what they do, they know how to handle situations, they play their game with a really high intensity. I am happy how the players executed the game plan. For us, it all started on defense. Once we got some stops, we controlled the rebounds, it helped us also to get easy points on the break. But it also gave us confidence, which we got through defense. It was really helpful to get Papagiannis and Papapetrou back. They give us not only fresh legs but a lot of quality. Today's game started in the second half with Real; that's what we talked about before the game. That is why I said that I like the way the players reacted. We had a good game, but we still need to stay focused. Every game is a different story, a different opponent, a different game plan. We don't have a lot of time to prepare, but we have to stay focused and it all starts with our defense. A lot of our 91 points came from our a good defense. We had a chance to run, especially in the first half. Shooting 35% for three is about average. It is not big, but it is all about good shot selection. Most of the time [on our shots], we had good situations for offensive rebounds, creating that spacing and mismatches against the defense. Offensive rebounds are a big part of our game. A lot of our misses we got back with offensive rebounds and got second chances."
PONSARNAU, JAUME
Valencia Basket
"Congratulations to Panathinaikos. They played an unbelievable game, with very good concentration, very good physical work, and they took tactical advantage with a lot of concepts. They won the rebounds, they played much better than us. We know how to play better, we know how to defend better, but it is important to give credit and congratulate Panathinaikos players for the game they played. We have the pressure [of being in the playoff race] but we want that pressure because the ambition of the club is to play in the EuroLeague. And if we want that, we need the pressure to push us mentally, push the team, the club, everybody in Valencia. Today, Panathinaikos did not surprise us tactically, because their coach defined clearly what is their philosophy, but then it is difficult to adopt to this new defensive concept because we don't have time to practice. And the Panathinaikos players played unbelievable tonight."

Players

NEDOVIC, NEMANJA
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
"Consistency is just daily work, and routine, and trying to help the team as much as I can. I am in kind of slump shooting-wise the last two games; I have to get better at that. But I think everybody knows I can be even better. It takes energy to play defense. Everybody needs to be focused and energy is the main point. You can miss shots but defense you have to play every game."
WHITE, AARON
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
"It was a little bit of everything. I think our defense was important, not only for stopping them but it gave us some momentum on offense; we got some fastbreak points. And the most important thing is that we took them out of the action they wanted to run, by trying to be aggressive and use our energy. It was good. It is the first game for the coach with a full roster. Of course, it's different. It is better for us to have better players available, some of our main guys. They both played well tonight. Hopefully we can stay healthy and continue winning."
PREPELIC, KLEMEN
Valencia Basket
"It was a very difficult game. We had hoped to bounce back after a very difficult loss to Zalgiris in the last second. But in the end, we didn't have sufficient energy and Panathinaikos played very well. Their ball movement was real good and we were unable to stop it."