Panathinaikos – Aris 103-83: Good training ahead of Devil’s Week

A few days before EuroLeague’s Devil’s Week and games with Monaco (1/2) and Barcelona (3/2), Panathinaikos hosted Aris at OAKA, defeated him 103-83 and set the goal for first place in the regular season Stoiximan Basket League, which offers home field advantage in the playoffs.

Dimitris Priftis didn’t have Daryl Makon – Ioannis Papapetrou available, he saw George Papagiannis return to the floor, he was happy from the first twenty minutes but certainly not from the second. The Greens were right, Aris fought stubbornly, reduced to seven (83-76), but didn’t have the courage to do anything anymore. With a score of 10:1 the greens are 96:0 at home and 4:1 away), with a score of 5:7 Aris (4:2 at home and 1:5 away) after the 14th game

The race

Panathinaikos entered the game with a good rhythm in attack (16-8 in 4 minutes), with a balance of two points and three points (3/4 and 3/4) and with Hanlan being their only problem in defense. The third’s 27-12 was the result of eight assists from the errant hosts, at a time when Aris was counting just one final pass for five errors and seemed unable to show a competitive face.

The pressure from the yellow-blacks helped them play better defensively, find space in attack and reduce to 35-25 in the middle of the second period, but without worrying too much about the hosts. Panathinaikos responded with a quick 7-0 for +17 before Jeremy Evans put on a show with his impressive finishes, blasting the difference to 21 (52-31) and Nedovic ending with first part shots at 54-33.

Panathinaikos was in charge, not wanting to be pressured by what was going to be a hell of a week, compensating for his absences and sharing time. He made it easily at the beginning of the second part, although Aris made a considerable effort. Reduced to 12 (68-56) in 27′ to keep interest alive, made 80-71 in 31′, all seven (83-76) with Prifti’s calling timeout at 7:24 before finally closing on his Athletes to show that the match still had a long way to go.

Indeed, from that point on Panathinaikos never looked back. He capitalized on a 7-0 streak for 93-79 in 36′, comfortably posting a tenth positive in 11 games.

THE REFEREES: Kardaris, Zakestidis, Konstantinidou

THE TEN MINUTES: 27-12, 54-33, 78-65, 103-83

Panathinaikos (Priftis): Papagiannis 7 (3/4 two points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks), Bohoridis 14 (3/3 two points, 2/6 three points, 2/2 shots, 5 assists), Kavvadas 6, Kaselakis, White 16 (4/5 two points, 2/6 three points, 2/2 shots, 6 rebounds), Abdalas, Jovic 4 (2/3 two points, 0/2 three points, 4 assists), Nedovic 28 ( 2/6 two points, 5/8 three points, 9/11 shots), Evans 17 (4/6 two points, 2/3 three points, 3/6 shots, 4 rebounds, 3 assists), Mantzoukas 3 , Sant Ross 8 (2)

MARS (Kastritis): Juston 14 (5/5 two points, 4/4 shots, 6 rebounds, 2 assists), Kawan 4, Kamaras, Poulianitis 9 (3), Petanidis, Lockett 2, Netzipoglou 2, Williams 12 (2), Hanlan 25 (5/11 two points, 4/8 three points, 3/6 shots), Kelly 15 (5/14 two points, 5/6 shots, 8 rebounds), Kottas

Panathinaikos team statistics: 21/34 two points, 13/29 three points, 22/28 shots, 37 rebounds (28 defensive – 9 offensive), 25 assists, 6 steals, 2 blocks, 12 errors

Statistics of the Mars group: 20/44 two points, 9/21 three points, 16/21 shots, 25 rebounds (17 defensive – 8 offensive), 16 assists, 10 steals, 2 blocks, 14 errors

The next games of the two teams: In the 15th game, Panathinaikos enjoys his break while Aris hosts Ionikos (13/2 at 17:00).