By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
MILANO, Italy – After forty minutes of back-and-forth action on both sides of the floor, Panathinaikos managed to get the upper hand over Milano, winning 76-68 in Mediolanum Forum and perfectly completing the double-game week after the thrilling victory over AS Monaco. This is the Greek’s team third straight win in the EuroLeague.
Being a dominant force under the basket, Mathias Lessort exploded for 16 points and 5 rebounds with most of the best plays of the whole game, shooting 7/10 from two-point range.
However, following Milano’s captain’s fifth foul, the French center landed roughly on the floor, being carried to the green-and-white bench unable to walk on his own.
Mathias Lessort couldn’t walk on his own and got carried to Panathinaikos’ bench after a rough landing in the final minutes against Milano. pic.twitter.com/0tupBd9bD9
— Cesare Milanti (@cesaremilanti) December 22, 2023
Kendrick Nunn added 17 points with big shots.
“I’m just giving whatever my team needs at the moment. Milano played a tough game, and it took us down to the wire. We’re getting better every day, the chemistry is now gelling. We want to continue this winning streak“, the American guard commented.
“He’s a very serious player, he plays tough on defense as well. When our plays don’t work, we let him play the P&R just like in the NBA. Now he understood better the Europeαn game”, Ergin Ataman shared about the former Miami Heat guard.
“Milano in the last two games got great rhythm. In the first half, we gave a lot of transition points, in the second half our defense was maybe one of the best so far this season. We moved the ball well, with great spacing. We keep up the double-game week. We want to recreate Panathinaikos’ glory days, the guys started to play well together”, the Turkish head coach added after the win.
Once again Nikola Mirotic and waiting for Shabazz Napier’s new debut with the red-and-white team, Shavon Shields dragged Milano for the vast majority of the encounter, scoring 13 points with 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Nicolò Melli had a solid 17-PIR night with 7 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals, but had to leave the court earlier than expected for five fouls with 3:22 minutes to go.
“I want to thank Billy [Baron], who was not in condition to play. He took some painkillers, and he played with great heart. He had a serious physical situation. The game became tight with three minutes left, and we missed some crucial shots that could have changed the result. This doesn’t change my opinion, we competed, we played tough”, Ettore Messina commented in the post-game press conference.
Panathinaikos stayed on the edge before the late push
The first quarter saw both teams adjusting to each other without any hits, but at 4:51 minutes to go Mathias Lessort had one of his poster dunks. Milano created the first gap (21-13) following some effective plays from Billy Baron with 1:35 minutes on the clock, Panathinaikos responded before the end of the opening period with a 9-0 run but Shavon Shields beat the first-quarter buzzer for the 24-22.
Juancho Hernangomez took advantage of Guglielmo Caruso’s rookie coverage to score five straight points opening the second quarter, and Panathinaikos tried to escape with a 10-0 run. Milano didn’t score for almost five minutes when Johannes Voigtmann banked in from three at 5:25 before halftime. The red-and-white then regained the lead (33-32) with 4:25 left but ended the quarter tied at 41-41.
After a third-quarter start with both teams exchanging leads, Ettore Messina was forced to call timeout as Kendrick Nunn’s three-pointer gave Panathinaikos the four-point lead (49-45) with 5:29 on the clock. The former Miami Heat playmaker then let the alley-oop fly as Mathias Lessort dunked it in for another highlight reel candidate, but Milano cut the deficit to one point (55-54) after an outstanding 3+1 play by Shavon Shields at 1:58 minutes to go before the fourth.
Entering the last ten minutes of the game up by three points (59-56), Panathinaikos first suffered a comeback attempt by Milano and then established the lead once again with Dinos Mitoglou’s putback dunk. Alex Poythress had back-to-back monster blocks with 7:14 on the clock. Without Nicolò Melli in the final stretch of the game, Milano suffered a 6-0 run (71-65) by Panathinaikos and couldn’t find itself on the winning end anymore, as Kendrick Nunn wrote the word end to the encounter.
The Italian side opened this double-game week with a pretty comfortable win over Gianmarco Pozzecco’s ASVEL and will host Baskonia in the EuroLeague Round 17 on 28/12 at 20:30 CET. Ergin Ataman’s team, instead, got the thrilling victory on the road against AS Monaco and will come back playing in OAKA, welcoming Crvena Zvezda on the same day at 20:15 CET.