2018-19Regular SeasonRound 24
Herbalife Gran Canaria 80
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 99
February 28, 2019 CET: 21:00
Local time: 20:00 GRAN CANARIA ARENA

Panathinaikos gets long-awaited road win

Panathinaikos OPAP Athens recorded its second consecutive win by topping Herbalife Gran Canaria 80-99 on the road on Thursday. Panathinaikos improved to 11-13 and 11th in the standings, one win outside of the playoff zone. Gran Canaria dropped to 6-18 and 15th place overall. Keith Langford led five Panathinaikos scorers in double figures with 18 points. Nick Calathes added 17 points and 9 assists, Thanasis Antetokounmpo scored 16, Georgios Papagiannis 14 and Ioannis Papapetrou 10 for the Greens. Xavi Rabaseda paced Gran Canaria with 21 points, Jacob Wiley added 16 in his EuroLeague debut and Marcus Eriksson had 10 for the hosts. Panathinaikos led 26-28 after 10 minutes, extended its margin to 45-50 at halftime and then again to 68-80 early in the fourth quarter, enough to control the game for good.

Niko Radicevic hit a mid-range jumper and Rabaseda struck from downtown for an early 5-2 Gran Canaria lead. Calathes and Wiley traded basket, and Antetokounmpo followed a put-back slam with an alley-oop layup to put Panathinaikos back ahead, 9-10. Rabaseda took over with a wild three-point play and Eriksson added a running floater to restore a 14-12 Gran Canaria lead. Rabaseda and Eriksson kept pacing the hosts, but Lukas Lekavicius, Papagiannis and Langford fueled an 0-8 run that gave the guests a 19-22 edge. Siim Sander Vene hit a triple and Clevin Hannah followed free throws with a driving layup, but Papagiannis and Langford restored a 26-28 Panathinaikos lead after 10 minutes. Wiley and Cory Jefferson each scored down low early in the second quarter and an acrobatic basket by Albert Oliver gave the hosts a 32-28 margin. Antetokounmpo and Calathes stepped up with respective layups and Papapetrou hit a triple for a Panathinaikos edge. Papagiannis took over with an alley-oop slam and got help from Antetokoummpo and Papapetrou to break the game open at 32-44 after a 0-16 run. Radicevic and Rabaseda combined for all the points in an 8-0 Gran Canaria run, but back-to-back three-pointers by Langford kept the visitors in charge, 45-50, at halftime. Papagiannis shined with an alley-oop slam after the break and Calathes added a triple to keep Panathinaikos ahead, 50-55. Eriksson answered from beyond the arc and free throws by Wiley tied it at 55-55. Sean Kilpatrick sank a jumper and an unstoppable Papagiannis caused Gran Canaria to call timeout at 57-62. Calathes and Langford stepped up for Panathinaikos and a layup by Ian Vougioukas gave the visitors a 64-71 margin. A stop-and-pop jumper by Hannah and a layup by Papapetrou fixed the score at 66-73 after 30 minutes. Langford struck from beyond the arc early in the fourth quarter and Kilpatrick added consecutive driving layups for a 68-80 score. Vougioukas hit a close jumper and a layup by Antetokpunmpo sealed the outcome, 69-84, with over 6 minutes left. Gran Canaria never gave up, but the Greens kept control the rest of the way.

Pivotal performer

Antetokounmpo provided the energy required to lead Panathinaikos to a much-awaited road win. He finished the game with 16 points on 8 of 9 two-point shooting, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks for a performance index rating of 20. He had career highs in scoring and PIR.

Game-changing moment

Gran Canaria led 32-28 midway through the second quarter, but Antetokounmpo, Papagiannis and Papapetrou fueled a 0-16 run that put Panathinaikos ahead for good, 32-44. Panathinaikos had to work hard in the second half to keep the lead, but that run changed the game's momentum and Gran Canaria never truly recovered.

Stellar stat

Panathinaikos hit 36 of 47 two-point shots. Its 76.6% two-point shooting percentage was a new EuroLeague season-high; CSKA Moscow had previously made 75.6% of its two-point shots against the same opponent, Gran Canaria. It marked the 19th-highest two-point shooting percentage in competition history. Panathinaikos has the record from hitting 28 of 32 two-point shots (87.5%) against EWE Baskets Oldenburg on November 25, 2009.

Did you notice?

This was Panathinaikos's first EuroLeague road win since early November. The Greek powerhouse lost nine consecutive road games after beating Buducnost VOLI Podgorica in the Montenegrin capital on November 2, 67-72.

Next game:

Both teams return to Turkish Airlines EuroLeague action on Thursday, March 7. Panathinaikos visits Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul and Gran Canaria travels to Lithuania to face Zalgiris Kaunas.

Keith Langford - Panathinaikos OPAP Athens - EB18
Thursday, February 28, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: RYZHYK, BORYS; LATISEVS, OLEGS; UDYANSKYY, EDUARD
Attendance: 3945
By Quarter1234
Herbalife Gran Canaria26192114
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens28222326
End of Quarter1234
Herbalife Gran Canaria26456680
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens28507399
Herbalife Gran Canaria
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 WILEY, JACOB 26:59 16 6/10   4/4 3 1 4     1 1 1 1 4 18
4 OLIVER, ALBERT 4:24 2 1/2       1 1 1 1 1     1   2
5 HANNAH, CLEVIN 15:57 8 2/3 0/5 4/4 1 1 2 5   1     2 2 8
8 ERIKSSON, MARCUS 24:31 11 2/3 1/5 4/4 1   1 1 1       1 5 13
9 VENE, SIIM-SANDER 12:53 5 1/1 1/2     1 1           4   1
12 BALVIN, ONDREJ 10:58   0/2     1 3 4 1   1     2    
21 PAULI, ORIOL 9:59   0/2 0/2 0/2 1 1 2             2 -2
22 RABASEDA, XAVIER 30:03 21 2/2 5/8 2/3 1   1 1 3 1 1   4 2 20
24 STRAWBERRY, DJ 15:29 2 1/3 0/2 0/2 1   1 1         1 1 -2
31 RADICEVIC, NIKOLA 19:39 5 1/2 1/4   1 1 2 7   2   1 3 3 7
34 JEFFERSON, CORY 8:06 2 1/3 0/2   1 1 2     1     1   -2
41 TILLIE, KIM 21:02 8 3/8 0/4 2/4 6 3 9 2 3 1   1 2 2 9
Team           3 1 4     1         3
Totals 200:00 80 20/41 8/34 16/23 20 14 34 19 8 10 2 3 22 21 75
        48.8% 23.5% 69.6%
Head coach: GARCIA, VICTOR
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
3 PAYNE, ADREIAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
5 LANGFORD, KEITH 21:23 18 3/6 3/5 3/4   1 1 2   4     1 4 14
6 PAPAGIANNIS, GEORGIOS 14:47 14 7/8     2 3 5 1   2     1   16
10 PAPAPETROU, IOANNIS 31:56 10 3/3 1/2 1/2 1 4 5           2 2 13
14 GIST, JAMES 18:34 8 3/3   2/2   3 3 3   1     3 3 13
15 VOUGIOUKAS, IAN 7:07 4 2/2       1 1           1 1 5
16 KALAITZAKIS, GEORGIOS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 LEKAVICIUS, LUKAS 11:55 4 1/1   2/2       2 1       1 3 9
23 KILPATRICK, SEAN 29:06 8 4/5 0/2     3 3 1   1 1   3 2 8
33 CALATHES, NICK 28:05 17 5/10 2/3 1/3   5 5 9 3 6   2 4 6 20
43 ANTETOKOUNMPO, THANASIS 20:39 16 8/9     2 2 4   2   2   4 1 20
44 MITOGLOU, KONSTANTINOS 16:28     0/2     5 5     2     1    
Team           2   2               2
Totals 200:00 99 36/47 6/14 9/13 7 27 34 18 6 16 3 2 21 22 120
        76.6% 42.9% 69.2%
Head coach: PITINO, RICK

Head Coaches

GARCIA, VICTOR
Herbalife Gran Canaria
"As we see in the stats, it is very difficult to compete against a team that scores 76% of its two-point shots. I think they beat us during the game in physical toughness; they played very tough during the whole game, especially close to the basket, scoring with great percentages. We tried to be in the game until maybe the beginning of the last quarter, when we tried to go for the game, but didn't score. They scored good baskets with contact; they have great one-on-one players and punished us in these situations."
PITINO, RICK
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
"The team responded very well, but our goal was to come in here and get 85 points. We felt that, with our defense, if we could get 85, we would be tough to beat. It is not easy to do on the road because this team played Milan to overtime because they got in a shootout with them. But we played brilliant offense, Flash [Antetokounmpo] had an awesome night and if he wasn't in foul trouble, he would have had a career night. In the last three weeks, we have been playing great basketball, but the fascinating thing and the encouraging thing for us is all the injuries that we had. We were without DeShaun Thomas, Matt Lojeski, then we were our without Dinos [Mitoglou], so we played guys in different positions that they never played before. But these guys are so smart that they adjust."

Players

RADICEVIC, NIKOLA
Herbalife Gran Canaria
"I believe that in the EuroLeague, it is always the same story for us: we are in the game and at some point, the biggest teams in the competition had a good run and won. In the end, we lost by almost 20 points and it is not the real difference, because I think we competed very well against a team that has the ambition to play the Final Four every year. We will try to win these games, but also take advantage of them to practice things. We have to stay together more than ever because we have a tough calendar ahead of us. We have to get our confidence back, be together and give our best."
ANTETOKOUNMPO, THANASIS
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
"I think we played good defense in the second half, controlled the rhythm and got the win. A big, very, very big 'thank you' [to Panathinaikos fans in Gran Canaria Arena] from our hearts. Our season has been going up and down, but they are still there to support us, at home and away. It's 200 people, man, in Gran Canaria. Two hundred people! That's unbelievable!"
CALATHES, NICK
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
"Obviously, it feels good to get a win on the road - we haven't had many wins like this. For us, defensively, we have started to play better and tonight we did a good job. Hopefully next week we will be getting better and better. We are closer to the playoffs, but have to take one game at a time. For us, we have to take a step forwards and every game is very important for us. We will see what happens in the end."
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