By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Luke Sikma ended the game with 16 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists, Tamir Blatt also had 15 points and seven assists as ALBA Berlin got an easy 94-65 home win over Panathinaikos in a contest that ended up being an unexpected walk in the part for the Germans.
ALBA played without Maodo Lo, Jaleen Smith, Johannes Thiemann, and Marcus Eriksson but dominated the second half. To be exact, the hosts had a good start and had a 43-33 advantage after the second period.
However, they started the third quarter with a 17-0 run (60-33) for a 27-point difference and the game was practically over. Panathinaikos couldn’t react after that, trailing by 19 at the end of the third (64-45).
As Israel Gonzalez, ALBA Berlin head coach said: “[The key to the win was] the group, because it’s unbelievable how they played tonight with all the injuries, with all the problems… It’s unbelievable how the group is working and doing things. I think our [defense] has been great today… recovering hard, everybody moving at the same time with the ball, I think the defense did very well with the concepts.”
The best the guests could do was trim ALBA’s advantage to 16 points (66-50) before ALBA reacted with another 19-4 run (85-54) for a 31-point advantage.
The Greeks were also missing Nate Wolters, but this absence is not a good enough excuse for the way the game ended up being torture for once mighty Panathinaikos.
Luke Sikma couldn’t hide his satisfaction: “If we’ve got guys down, everyone else is ready to step up and is just confident, and we’re confident in each other. We came out and played how we wanted to; I think we did a good job defensively, and when we got a stop we got out and ran, so it was what we wanted to do.”
Marius Grigonis with 14 points and Andrew Andrews with 13 points were the top scorers of the losing side.
Photo credit: EuroLeague