2012-13PlayoffsGame 1
FC Barcelona Regal 72
Panathinaikos Athens 70
April 09, 2013 CET: 20:00
Local time: 20:00 PALAU BLAUGRANA

Barcelona hangs for Game 1 victory in OT

In a tense thriller that either team could have won twice, FC Barcelona Regal survived a tough challenge on its own court to defeat Panathinaikos Athens 72-70 in overtime Tuesday in the opening game of their best-of-five playoff series. Barcelona, which extended its Euroleague winning streak to 13 games, also hosts Game 2 at Palau Blaugrana on Thursday. Juan Carlos Navarro's three-pointer with 2 minutes left in overtime proved the game-winner as Barcelona rallied from 6 points behind with under 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter to avoid defeat. Navarro led the winners with 14 points, hitting 4 of 10 three-pointers, while Victor Sada rallied Barcelona with all 13 of his points in the fourth quarter and overtime. Ante Tomic had a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds, plus a huge block late in overtime, while Sarunas Jasikevicius scored 11 and dished 5 assists. James Gist, whose blocked shot forced overtime, joined Stephan Lasme with 14 points each to lead Panathinaikos. Dimitris Diamantidis added 10 while Roko Ukic had 9 and 7 assists. Ukic, Diamantidis and Jonas Maciulis struck from downtown in a 0-14 first-quarter run that put Panathinaikos up 9-21 late in the first quarter. Tomic and Navarro fueled a 13-0 run as Barcelona regained the lead, 22-21, early in the second, while a buzzer-beating basket by Mike Bramos kept the Greens within 34-32 at halftime. Panathinaikos locked down its defense after the break and got back-to-back alley-oop dunks from Lasme to go ahead again by a high of 36-44 after halftime. Barcelona tied it with back-to-back triples by Navarro and Jasikevicius, 60-60, setting up a dramatic finish and overtime, in which the hosts held on for victory.

First quarter: 0-14 run sends Panathinaikos up early

Tomic got the scoring started with a layup that Ukic bettered with a three-pointer for the Greens. By the time Diamantidis added a corner triple and a steal that Kostas Tsartsaris converted, Panathinaikos led 2-8 lead. Barcelona kept struggling to score as Maciulis joined the Panathinaikos three-point shooters to make it 2-11 and force Barcelona coach Xavi Pascual to call timeout. Sofoklis Schortsanitis followed a jump hook with 1-of-2 free throws to cap a 0-14 Panathinaikos run. Marcelinho Huertas came off the bench to rescue Barcelona from almost 5 scoreless minutes with a three-point play, as Panathinaikos had to adjust its aggressive defense once it entered the foul bonus. Free throws by Navarro made it 7-14 beore Maciulis hit a low-post basket and Lasme a tip-in at 7-18. Tomic sank a jump hook before Diamantidis drained his second triple, matching the Greens' high lead at 9-21. Tomic insisted with a close basket to get Barcelona a bit closer, 11-21, but Panathinaikos had sent its message already.

Second quarter: Barcelona rallies, takes the lead

Navarro fired in a catch-and-shoot triple that Huertas copied to get the home crowd loud to start of the second quarter. Panathinaikos struggled without Diamantidis on court as a jump hook by Tomic forced the Greens to call timeout at 19-21. Nate Jawai followed a wild alley-oop slam with 1-of-2 free throws as Barcelona took a lead 22-21. Gist ended more than 3 scoreless minutes for Panathinaikos with a dunk and a three-pointer that gave his team some fresh air and a lead back at 22-26. Jasikevicius quickly answered from downtown, Tsartsaris scored down low and free throws by Nathan Jawai kept the hosts within 27-28. Joe Ingles appeared with a driving layup that prompted Panathinaikos coach Argiris Pedoulakis to use a timeout at 29-28, but Navarro soon added to Barcelona's advantage with a corner triple. Gist responded with a highlight slam in traffic, but a jump hook by Tomic kept Barcelona ahead before a buzzer-beating put-back by Bramos fixed the halftime score at 34-32.

Third quarter: Lasme takes over, Panathinaikos leads again

Lasme swished a long baseline jumper for Panathinaikos to tie immediately after the break, as Barcelona started to miss open shots. Lasme buried another five-meter jumper to put Panathinaikos back ahead, 34-36. Gist scored in the low post but Huertas matched him with a floating layup. Panathinaikos dominated the boards with an athletic frontline - Maciulis, Gist and Lasme - together on court. Maciulis split free throws before Panathinaikos made a move with spectacular, back-to-back alley-oop jams by Lasme to make it a seven-point game, 36-43. A free throw by Ukic capped a 2-14 Panathinaikos run as the hosts went scoreless for more than 4 minutes until Jawai sank foul shots. Barcelona looked for better ball circulation with Jasikevicius at point guard. He nailed a big triple after a timeout that Bramos copied at the other end for a 41-47 Panathinaikos margin. Jasikevicius kept pacing Barcelona with a driving layup, while Lasme delivered his third alley-oop slam in the quarter. Ingles kept the hosts within 45-49 with a baseline jumper, but free throws by Lasme gave the Greens a 45-51 edge after 30 minutes.

Fourth quarter: Sada sends opener to OT!

Sada stepped up with an alley-oop layup for Barcelona early in the fourth quarter that Gist matched with a close-in basket. Barcelona improved its aggressiveness on defense and a put-back basket by Jawai brought the hosts within 49-53 with 8 minutes left. Ukic and Sada traded three-pointers and a power basket by Schortsanitis gave the Greens a 52-58 margin. Sada scored again to recharge the crowd, but Gist silenced them with huge slam. Navarro answered with a catch-and-shoot triple before Jasikevicius also struck from downtown as Barcelona suddenly tied it up, 60-60, with just under 5 minutes left. After a Panathinaikos timeout, 2 quick offensive fouls just as sent Lasme out of the game with the limit of five. The turnovers mounted with 3 in a row for each team as almost 3 tense minutes passed scorelessly until Diamantidis made 1 of 2 free throws with 2:07 to play for a 60-61 Panathinaikos lead. Sada answered with a driving layup and an assist to Tomic to take the lead back for Barcelona, 64-61, with 1:20 to play. Panathinaikos looked in trouble until Diamantidis beat the shot-clock from way downtown with a game-tying triple on the one-minute mark. After misses from deep by Navarro and Ukic, Barcelona got the last possession with 20 seconds left. Jasikevicius drove but Ukic tipped the ball off out of bounds, giving Barcelona a game-winning chance with 2.5 seconds left. Inbounding from under the basket, Barcelona got the ball to Tomic underneath, but Gist came from behind to block his hook shot and send the game to overtime!

Overtime: Navarro has the last answer as Barcelona survives

Tsartsaris and Sada scored 3 and 4 points, respectively, in the first 90 seconds of overtime before Tomic added a free throw to push Barcelona ahead 69-67. Panathinaikos found Gist alone at the top of the arc and he put the visitors back in front with a three-point strike at 69-70. Barcelona answered by going to Navarro for his own go-ahead triple with 2 minutes left. A pair of Panathinaikos misses left the score at 72-70 going into the final minute. After Navarro missed a runner, Tomic rejected Gist with 25 seconds left. Tsartsaris fouled Sada, but he missed both free throws, giving Panathinaikos a last chance. With 3 seconds left, Gist hit the floor after missing a dunk, fouled by Wallace, and went to the line with a chance to force double overtime. After his first shot fell out, he missed the second, too, and Tomic got the rebound and was fouled. He missed both free throws, too, however, letting Ukic launch the potential game-winner from well over halfcourt. When it missed, Barcelona had sweated out victory in a thriller to open the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs!

Juan Carlos Navarro - Barcelona Regal - EB12
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Euroleague.net
Referees: BELOSEVIC, ILIJA; SAHIN, TOLGA; BISSANG, JOSEPH
Attendance: 6195
By Quarter1234Extra 1
FC Barcelona Regal112311198
Panathinaikos Athens211119136
End of Quarter1234Extra 1
FC Barcelona Regal1134456472
Panathinaikos Athens2132516470
FC Barcelona Regal
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
8 SADA, VICTOR 19:42 13 5/7 1/2 0/2   3 3 1   1     3 3 11
9 HUERTAS, MARCELINHO 14:30 8 2/3 1/6 1/1 1   1     2     3 2  
10 ABRINES, ALEX DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
11 NAVARRO, JUAN CARLOS 40:34 14 0/5 4/10 2/2   2 2 3           3 11
13 JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS 27:13 11 1/3 3/4     3 3 5 1 2   1 1 2 15
18 WALLACE, C.J. 26:05   0/1 0/3     1 1 3 1 1     4 4  
20 INGLES, JOE 32:58 4 2/2 0/3     1 1     2     3 2 -1
23 HEZONJA, MARIO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
25 LORBEK, ERAZEM 18:58   0/1     1 5 6     2 1   1   3
32 JAWAI, NATE 12:49 9 2/2   5/8 4 3 7     2     2 6 15
34 MBAYE, PAPA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
44 TOMIC, ANTE 32:11 13 6/13   1/4 2 10 12 2 1 2 2 1 1 3 19
Team           1 3 4     1         3
Totals 225:00 72 18/37 9/28 9/17 9 31 40 14 3 15 3 2 18 25 76
        48.6% 32.1% 52.9%
Head coach: PASCUAL, XAVI
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 Athens
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
6 BRAMOS, MICHAEL 22:21 5 1/2 1/3   2 3 5 1   1     3   4
8 MACIULIS, JONAS 25:53 6 1/5 1/2 1/3   5 5 1 2 1 1   4 3 6
10 UKIC, ROKO 37:51 9 1/4 2/6 1/2   1 1 7 1 1   1 2 2 8
11 LASME, STEPHANE 20:48 14 6/11   2/2 1 3 4 1   4   1 5 1 5
12 TSARTSARIS, KOSTAS 27:51 7 3/6   1/2 2 5 7 1   3     4 4 8
13 DIAMANTIDIS, DIMITRIS 40:11 10 0/1 3/8 1/2   7 7 3 1 1     2 5 16
14 GIST, JAMES 35:53 14 4/7 2/3 0/2   4 4 2     1 1 1 2 15
15 BANKS, MARCUS 5:32                              
16 XANTHOPOULOS, VASSILIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
17 GIANNOPOULOS, CHARIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 SKORDILIS, GAIOS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 SCHORTSANITIS, SOFOKLIS 8:40 5 2/4   1/2   1 1 1   4     4 1 -3
Team             4 4     1         3
Totals 225:00 70 18/40 9/22 7/15 5 33 38 17 4 16 2 3 25 18 62
        45% 40.9% 46.7%
Head coach: PEDOULAKIS, ARGYRIS

Head Coaches

PASCUAL, XAVI
FC Barcelona Regal
"I would like to thank all the people who came to Palau Blaugrana today. With all the injuries we have, they gave us the extra boost we needed in tough moments, especially in the beginning of the game and early in the third and fourth quarters. Thanks to all the people and the courage of a team that wants to compete, we managed to reach the end of regulation with the possession to win the game - and also in overtime. It is an important win in a typical playoff game. We made 53% of our free throw attempts and Panathinaikos 47%, which in usual in Game 1 of the playoffs. We missed outside shots, both teams missed free throw attempts and that reflects how demanding these games are. It cannot be any other way with these two teams. I am very happy with this win. With Alex Abrines sidelined, we have four players missing. I give my team a lot of credit for what we accomplished together. Once again, congratulations to them and our fans. In the end, what matters in playoffs is the score, it is 1-0 and that's the most important thing. That's how it works. Alex had gastric problems and it was impossible for him to play. He came here but couldn't play and we hope he can play on Thursday. Sometimes you need to know how to win when you don't play well. At times, we played badly. Generally speaking, we have to play better and have the ability to do better. We lack some freshness and speed. Just weeks ago, we had 13 players available and are now down to 9 seniors. We have to invent new solutions in the 'three' position - playing with three guards at times, doing things we are not used to doing - but this is our current situation and we have to find the way to win."
PEDOULAKIS, ARGYRIS
Panathinaikos Athens
"It was a very physical game, both teams put a lot of emphasis on defense and tactics, using different lineups. We believe that we controlled the game rhythm for the best part of the game, which is difficult against a team with good rhythm like Barcelona. We have to watch the video and be 100% sure, but we believe that we got some bad calls in crucial moments, especially those two offensive fouls called on Lasme in a very important moment. At that time, he was playing really well the pick-and-roll with Diamantidis, and scoring. He fouled out and right after, Tsartsaris got his third foul. We believe that the last foul on Gist was very hard, too. People thought that Barcelona was a much better team than Panathinaikos, but my players proved that we can be competitive with them. The game went to overtime and we believe we had chances to win it. We will see what happens on Thursday. One of the reasons why Barcelona didn't shoot well is that we did not allow open shots from their best shooters. That was the reason Barcelona didn't find its offensive rhythm. We played very good defense, like Barcelona or CSKA do in the Euroleague. This is one of the reasons they did not shoot very well today. We expect a different game on Thursday. Barcelona has more depth, more players. Panathinaikos has put a new team together this year and we don't have that depth. That could be a problem. To give you an example, Jasikevicius really hurt us with pick-and-roll plays in the first half. We found answers with James Gist on him after the break, which solved that problem. We will watch the game, analyze our mistakes and try to correct them in practice, but we expect a different game."

Players

NAVARRO, JUAN CARLOS
FC Barcelona Regal
"We have played much better in the third and fourth quarter, more aggressive, cutting turnovers. We have to wake up tomorrow knowing that we did wrong. I am very happy with the effort we put out there. We had a lot of open shots that did not go in. We have to rest and to get ready for Game 2. We knew that playoffs games are like this - you never know what to expect. We play again in less than 48 hours and Game 2 will be as tough as this one. We got back in the game twice against a team that controlled the rhythm well and that's important."
WALLACE, C.J.
FC Barcelona Regal
"We started poorly, and in important games, against big teams, you can't do that. We were lucky, because the first five minutes of each half sets the tone. We were fortunate that Victor (Sada) had a great game, Ante (Tomic) played well. We started making threes. I think it took a while to get adjusted to the new ball, but we didn't really shoot the ball that well. We were fortunate that we stuck with it, played good defense, played hard in the final minutes and came out with a win. It's the best of five games. Thursday is a new day."
LASME, STEPHANE
Panathinaikos Athens
"I am not thinking about me fouling out in this game. I don't think that was the reason why we lost this game. This game is over and we have to focus on the next one. Barcelona is a great team. Coming here and playing like this is a confidence booster. We know we were in the game the whole time and should take that as a positive."
BRAMOS, MICHAEL
Panathinaikos Athens
"It was a tough game. Every possession was huge in the fourth quarter and overtime. You could feel it. We made some plays, they made their plays. Unfortunately, they finished up two points. That's just the way it goes sometimes. I think we'll see similar games. It might not be pretty sometimes, but it’s very physical, with very good defense by both teams. We will look at the video and get ready for Game 2. We have to go one game at a time, forget it's a five-game series and just look at Game 2 and try to figure out how to win that."
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