By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Khimki Moscow Region grabbed a 76-68 home victory against visiting Panathinaikos OPAP Athens for Round 10 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, improving to a 4-6 record.
Despite lacking Alexey Shved (out for about a month due to a hand injury), Khimki’s Anthony Gill made sure to keep things in place with a 21-point performance against the Greens. The American power forward also added five boards and two assists, leading his team to a crucial victory.
As winning coach Giorgos Bartzokas said: “We are more predictable now without Alexey [Shved ], but we managed to play good defence in the second half, allowing Panathinaikos to score just 24 points. It was a team effort, a team win, a very important win against a very experienced team“.
After a powerful start into the game by both teams (29-25 after 10′), soon the pace of the game slowed down, with Khimki keeping the lead constantly and uninterrupted. Panathinaikos’ James Gist posted a team-high of 19 points and nine rebounds, though it wasn’t enough to turn the tables towards the end of the game.
The Greek team suffered its fifth loss of the season and has an even record of wins. “We had opportunities in the first 20 minutes to take a little advantage, but in the end, Khimki was winning by four because we made two or three mistakes in the last part of the second quarter“, Panathinaikos coach Xavi Pascual said. “After that, in the second half, both teams improved on defense but we made tremendous mistakes on offense. We missed four or five easy fastbreaks, open shots, and this is why we only scored seven points in the third quarter”.