Clear defeat (90-73) of the ‘taronja’ team on the Panathinaikos court
MADRID, 23 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Valencia Basket lost this Thursday by a clear 90-73 in its visit to Panathinaikos, within matchday 10 in the Regular Phase of the Euroleague, the ‘taronja’ team confirming its bad streak in this tournament and, by extension, its visible patch of autumn results.
At OAKA Altion, Álex Mumbrú’s pupils suffered their fourth consecutive defeat in all competitions, a dynamic that extends to six poor harvests in their last seven games. Although in the previous ones he had fought until the end, this time his rival was very solid from the first minute.
Riding on the back of point guard Kostas Sloukas, Panathinaikos overturned an initial 3-4 and never gave up the lead on the scoreboard. With fellow point guard Jerian Grant hitting shots from mid-distance and with center Mathias Lessort dominating in the ‘paint’, the gap increased without remedy.
A triple by Eleftherios Mantzoukas corroborated that trend on the last play of the opening quarter (27-18). Mantzoukas even repeated a three-pointer right at the start of the next period, punctuated by two triples from Kendrick Nunn and Luca Vildoza (36-18) that threatened to break the match in favor of the Athenians.
Valencia reacted through Boubacar Touré, Chris Jones and Xabi López-Arostegui, forging a 0-9 partial that made Ergin Ataman move the bench and trust Sloukas again. A basket from him cut short the visitor’s reply, which never returned after the break (49-35).
Mumbrú could not find a way for his pupils to stop the bleeding on defense, while Ataman from the opposite bench wore a satisfied smile. His squad seems to have overcome the bad feelings of the first matches of this Euroleague, which did not measure up to its label as a candidate to play in the Final Four.
PROCEDURE WITH FINAL SCARE
The third period against Valencia was a mere formality, with no strain on OAKA’s electronics after a cumulative partial of 23-18. Grant, in the light, and Lessort, under the boards, continued scoring for Panathinaikos in key moments, while Semi Ojeleye claimed responsibility for the ‘taronja’.
The Nigerian forward often enters his coach’s plans and enjoys plenty of minutes, but he was missing a day with more aim in his shots. Despite his impetus, accompanied by the work of Touré, the Valencian team only made up for the result in a final quarter where the Athenian pavilion enjoyed themselves to their heart’s content.
Having well controlled a visiting partial of 0-7 (72-60), guided by the skill of Jared Harper, Panathinaikos secured its victory with an advantage of +17 and was located with a balance of 6-4 in the upper zone of the classification. On the other hand, Valencia was left with 5-5 in the group of clubs that opt for the ‘play-in’.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: PANATHINAIKOS, 90 – VALENCIA BASKET, 73 (49-35, at halftime).
–EQUIPMENT.
PANATHINAIKOS: Sloukas (12), Grant (13), Grigonis (11), Lessort (17) y Mitoglou (14) –quinteto inicial–; Kalaitzakis (2), Vildoza (6), Nunn (5), Balcerowski (1) and Mantzoukas (9).
VALENCIA BASKET: Jones (8), Robertson (3), Puerto (5), Inglis (2) and Davies (5) –starting quintet–; Harper (9), López-Arostegui (8), Ojeleye (16), Reuvers (6), Touré (8), Claver (-) and Pradilla (3).
–PARTIALS: 27-18, 22-17, 23-18 and 18-20.
–REFEREES: Belosevic, Shemmesh and Vilius. Davies was eliminated for personal fouls in Valencia Basket.
–PABELLÓN: OAKA Altion, 14,630 spectators.