By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens prevailed over visiting Khimki Moscow Region with a 94-85 victory in Round 23 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and took an important step forward for the playoffs zone. The Greens got the tiebreaker against their visitors and now move up to a 10-13 record.
The first half was dreamy for the hosts, that managed to lead by 65-50 at halftime, in their most productive EuroLeague game under Rick Pitino’s guidance. This also marks the second-highest performance in the league since Kinder Bologna’s 66 points at half vs. Cibona during the 2000-1 regular season.
Things slowed down in the second and the Russians tried to regain their ground, though the hosts kept their safety net until the end.
DeShaun Thomas was the leading scorer for Panathinaikos, adding 25 points in 28 minutes on the court, while Nick Calathes was once again fully productive all around the floor with 13 points and 12 assists.
“Nick is very creative, but sometimes he’ll rush the mismatch instead of letting it create”, per Pitino’s words.
On the other side of the court, Malcolm Thomas and Jordan Mickey paced Khimki with 18 and 17 points apiece.