By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
It wasn’t as easy as the final score might suggest, but Barça got the main goal when visiting Athens: escaping with the win. The Blaugrana side got the first win of the season after defeating Panathinaikos (96-103).
The Hernangómez brothers clashed once again, and both of them were vital for their teams.
Juancho finished with a career-high 27 points and eight rebounds, while Willy put up 13 points and six rebounds for the Catalan team.
However, Will Clyburn (23 p.), Nico Laprovittola (15 p., 9 as.), and Toko Shengelia (17 p., 5 r.) gave Barça a consistent two-digit lead.
Sloukas trying to save the day
On the other side, Kostas Sloukas (18 p,m 11 as.) was Juancho’s only teammate to show up, as TJ Shorts (2 PIR) and Kendrick Nunn (5 PIR) were nowhere to be found.
The game couldn’t have started better for the Blaugrana side.
After the disappointing debut against Hapoel Tel Aviv, a 0-11 opening run was the perfect scenario for the second game of the week, but Panathinaikos responded with a 13-0 run to tie things up. However, after that, Barcelona had the lead and the momentum.
Even when it looked like Panathinaikos was reacting and making the game close, a 0-12 run to start the fourth quarter meant the biggest yet lead of the game for Barça (69-84) and ultimately sealed the deal for the guests.