2018-19PlayoffsGame 1
Real Madrid 75
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 72
April 17, 2019 CET: 21:15
Local time: 21:15 WIZINK CENTER

Madrid finishes strong to hold off Panathinaikos

Real Madrid held off a stirring comeback from Panathinaikos OPAP Athens to record a thrilling 75-72 home victory in the opening game of their playoffs series in the Spanish capital. Madrid was in front nearly all night and led by 14 early in the third quarter, but the Greens did not give up and roared in front 66-72 with 4 minutes left. Madrid rallied to finish strong and take the victory when DeShaun Thomas missed the chance to force overtime near the final buzzer. Jeffery Taylor paced the winners with 13 points, Fabien Causeur scored 12 and Walter Tavares combined 8 points with 8 rebounds. Nick Calathes recovered from a slow start to lead all scorers with 17 points for the Greens and Thomas added 12 while Ian Vougoiukas paired 10 points and 6 rebounds. The teams will meet again for Game 2 in Madrid on Friday.

With former Madrid star Luka Doncic watching in the crowd, neither team scored in the first 2 minutes before Taylor got Madrid moving with a pair of triples. Panathinaikos needed nearly 4 minutes to score before Thomas netted from mid-range. Taylor and Tavares dunked, then Taylor added another triple, but Madrid was held to 21-17 at the end of the first quarter after a pair of baskets from Vougioukas and a buzzer-beating jumper from Keith Langford. A couple of fadeaways from Langford kept Panathinaikos close, before Calathes and Sean Kilpatrick scored from deep to make it 32-31. Causeur scored 6 straight points for Madrid and Trey Thompkins made a corner triple as the home team went ahead 43-35 at the break after Facundo Campazzo drove to beat the buzzer off the glass.

Taylor, Tavares and Causeur all scored from close range early in the third to open a 49-35 lead, with Panathinaikos only scoring one basket in the first 4 minutes of the half. A pair of three-pointers from Ioannis Papapetrou made it a single-digit game, but Causeur protected Madrid’s lead with a couple of floaters. Langford's mid-range strike capped a 0-6 run, helping to make it 58-52 at the end of the third. Deep strikes from Jaycee Carroll and Klemen Prepelic kept Madrid ahead early in the final period, but Calathes scored twice and Vougioukas netted a floater to force Madrid into timeout at 64-61. Calathes and Thomas struck from deep for Panathinaikos's first lead, 64-67. A Calathes layup completed a 0-13 run and he soon hit another three-pointer for a 66-72 lead. Rudy Fernandez stopped the rot by scoring from beyond the arc and after 2 and a half minutes without scoring, free throws from Campazzo and Carroll made it 73-72 with 54 seconds left. Langford’s jumper rimmed out, Campazzo's free throws stretched the lead to 3 and Thomas could not sink a deep strike as Madrid held on.

Calathes subdued…at first

Madrid’s defense initially did a great job of subduing Panathinaikos playmaker Nick Calathes. The league's assists leader registered only 1 in the first half, during which time he also shot 1 of 8 from the field and committed 2 fouls, giving him a PIR of minus-2 at the break. But Calathes sparked to life in the final quarter, orchestrating his team’s stunning comeback with a flurry of baskets. He scored 12 of his 17 points in the final period, but finished with just 4 assists – his lowest since Round 9.

Taylor boosts Madrid

Jeffery Taylor gave Madrid a big early boost. He scored the first 8 points for his team, eventually netting 11 points in the first quarter on 3-of-5 three-point shooting. Taylor went out of the game with the scoreline at 14-8, having scored 11 of those points. He also opened the second half scoring with a big dunk before being forced out with 3 fouls, but returned to add important defense near the end.

Vougioukas steps up

Taylor wasn’t the only unexpected heavy scorer in the early going: Panathinaikos big man Ian Vougioukas also had a big impact, registering 7 points and 3 rebounds in his first 6 minutes on the floor. He also played a key role in his team’s fourth-quarter comeback, recording 3 points, 3 rebounds and 2 fouls drawn during the 0-13 run which threatened to change the game.

Lekavicius forced out

With Calathes struggling deep into the second half, Panathinaikos Coach Rick Pitino was denied an option to relieve him when Lukas Lekavicius suffered a badly cut face in an accidental collision with Fabien Causeur. Blood was pouring down the face of the Lithuanian point guard as he headed into the locker room and he was unable to play any further part.

Jeffery Taylor - Real Madrid - EB18
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: RYZHYK, BORYS; RADOVIC, SRETEN; DIFALLAH, MEHDI
Attendance: 10159
By Quarter1234
Real Madrid21221517
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens17181720
End of Quarter1234
Real Madrid21435875
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens17355272
Real Madrid
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 CAUSEUR, FABIEN 11:31 12 4/4 0/2 4/5 1 2 3     1     1 4 14
3 RANDOLPH, ANTHONY 20:58 3 0/2 1/3     1 1   1 1          
5 FERNANDEZ, RUDY 23:25 7 0/2 2/7 1/2   5 5 2 1 1     2 3 7
7 CAMPAZZO, FACUNDO 29:42 8 1/2 0/5 6/6 1 3 4 6 3 2   1 1 7 18
9 REYES, FELIPE 4:15   0/1               1     2   -4
14 AYON, GUSTAVO 14:02 2 1/2       6 6   1 1     2   5
20 CARROLL, JAYCEE 13:24 8   2/4 2/2   1 1 1   1 1   1 2 9
22 TAVARES, WALTER 25:36 8 3/4   2/2 3 5 8 2   1 2   2 3 19
24 DECK, GABRIEL 17:07 2 0/1 0/2 2/2   3 3 2         1 3 6
25 PREPELIC, KLEMEN 10:18 7 1/1 1/3 2/2   1 1 2         3 2 7
33 THOMPKINS, TREY 15:09 5 1/4 1/3     2 2 1       1     2
44 TAYLOR, JEFFERY 14:33 13 2/2 3/6 0/1 1   1 1         3 1 9
Team           2 1 3               3
Totals 200:00 75 13/25 10/35 19/22 8 30 38 17 6 9 3 2 18 25 95
        52% 28.6% 86.4%
Head coach: LASO, PABLO
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 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 29:58 12 3/5 2/4     1 1     1     1 2 9
5 LANGFORD, KEITH 24:43 9 4/10 0/1 1/2 1 2 3 2   1 1 1 2 4 7
6 PAPAGIANNIS, GEORGIOS 19:19 2 1/3     1 5 6 1 1 1 1   2 1 7
10 PAPAPETROU, IOANNIS 29:18 8 1/2 2/2   1 6 7 1   2     3 1 11
14 GIST, JAMES 12:10 2 1/1 0/1     1 1 1   1     1 1 2
15 VOUGIOUKAS, IAN 18:33 10 4/6   2/4 1 5 6           4 3 11
19 LEKAVICIUS, LUKAS 7:05 7 2/3 1/1     1 1           2 2 7
23 KILPATRICK, SEAN 13:02 5 1/5 1/1     1 1 1 1       4 1 1
24 LOJESKI, MATT 2:34           1 1               1
33 CALATHES, NICK 32:55 17 3/9 3/10 2/2   3 3 4   3   2 4 3 5
43 ANTETOKOUNMPO, THANASIS 10:23   0/2     1 2 3   1       2    
44 MITOGLOU, KONSTANTINOS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           3 3 6     1         5
Totals 200:00 72 20/46 9/20 5/8 8 31 39 10 3 10 2 3 25 18 66
        43.5% 45% 62.5%
Head coach: PITINO, RICK

Head Coaches

LASO, PABLO
Real Madrid
"Big win, because I think we did a great job. We had the advantage, we were 14 or 15 points up, playing very solid defensively and offensively. But we are talking about the playoffs and we are talking about great teams and Panathinaikos was able to come back and got a 6-point lead. A lot of credit to my players to stay on it, look for the right opportunity at the end and get a game that was very tough from the first minute. Every game is different in the playoffs. But what is true is we are going to face a great team, and we know it, and we have to be ready to do our best."
PITINO, RICK
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
"We could have won and should have won. But we did not. I am not happy about a lot of things, but I always believed excuses are a sign of weakness and we are not going to show any weakness. I am very disappointed with a loss. Should have won, could have won, we will give them credit and move on to the next game. I think we went to the well one too many times. I thought they had hands on Keith [Langford] every pick-and-roll, we didn't get a call, that is a part of the game. But I thought it was a brilliant comeback by a very tough, focused basketball team. I am pleased with the effort, disappointed with a lot of things that went on. But we will regroup and get ready for the next game."

Players

CARROLL, JAYCEE
Real Madrid
"It was a great game, a great atmosphere, but this is the playoffs so that's what you expect. We played well enough to win and hopefully we'll play better on Friday. There are definitely some lessons to learn; down the stretch they were able to make some plays and we have to guard those better, but we played really good defense in the last 2 or 3 minutes and that gave us some opportunities on offense. It's an important win, but you've got to get three and we've only got one. Two more to go.”
CAUSEUR, FABIEN
Real Madrid
"I feel happy because this is the first step in the playoffs. It is always tough to play the first game, especially at home. You have a little bit of extra pressure, you have to keep the home-court advantage. [To play against Calathes] is very tough, he is one of the best point guards in the league. Tonight he made good shots, so it is tough to find solutions to stop him. I think we did a great job for 40 minutes, but we can't stop him at zero points. The most important is the job we did as a team to get this first victory. The crowd was amazing, we needed them. There was a moment in the fourth quarter when we could not find ways to score and Panathinaikos was coming very hard, but with the help of the crowd, it is always easier."
TAVARES, WALTER
Real Madrid
"It's been a difficult game. They play aggressive, they play tough. I think our energy at the end was the key of the game. As always, I try to defend as well as I can and try to help the team any time I am on the court."