Panathinaikos Hand Fenerbahçe First Loss

Panathinaikos of Athens beat Fenerbahçe of Istanbul 92⁠–⁠74 at the Telekom Center Athens on Thursday, 8 October in the EuroLeague. The game started at 20:15 CEST, which is 2:15 p.m. ET (EuroLeague game header and schedule).

It was a game between two of the four clubs that had won all three of their games so far (EuroLeague results; Anadolu Agency). Panathinaikos had beaten Paris, ASVEL and Maccabi Tel Aviv, and Fenerbahçe had beaten Virtus Bologna, Bayern Munich and Dubai (EuroLeague results). The other two clubs at three wins and no losses were Valencia of Spain and Partizan Belgrade of Serbia (EuroLeague results). Eurohoops described Panathinaikos and Fenerbahçe as two teams competing for the EuroLeague title (Eurohoops).

After four rounds Panathinaikos are one of two unbeaten teams, with four wins and no losses. The other is Valencia, who beat Hapoel Tel Aviv 93⁠–⁠82 on the same night, while Partizan lost in Madrid (EuroLeague results; Eurohoops). Basketnews called it the Greek club's best start in the EuroLeague since the 2007⁠–⁠08 season (Basketnews).

The meeting carried an extra story. The Panathinaikos coach, Željko Obradović, used to coach Fenerbahçe, so this was a game between his current and former clubs (Eurohoops). Fenerbahçe are now coached by Šarūnas Jasikevičius (EuroLeague game header).

Fenerbahçe made the better start. They led 14⁠–⁠9 in the first quarter, their biggest lead of the night at five points (EuroLeague play-by-play; Anadolu Agency). Panathinaikos came back to lead 27⁠–⁠24 after the first quarter, the first of the four ten-minute periods in a game, and were ahead 46⁠–⁠41 at half-time (EuroLeague box score).

The game turned late in the third quarter. With Panathinaikos ahead 52⁠–⁠47, they scored ten points in a row in about two minutes, to lead 62⁠–⁠47 (EuroLeague play-by-play). Eight of those points came from Nikolaos Rogkavopoulos: a two-point basket, three free throws, which are uncontested shots worth one point each awarded after a foul, and a three-point shot (EuroLeague play-by-play). Mathias Lessort scored the other two. Nicolò Melli hit two three-pointers for Fenerbahçe to cut the gap, but Panathinaikos led 67⁠–⁠55 going into the last quarter (EuroLeague play-by-play; Anadolu Agency).

Early in the fourth quarter Panathinaikos pulled further away. Nigel Hayes-Davis hit a three-pointer and Sylvain Francisco scored to make it 78⁠–⁠58 with seven and a half minutes left, a 20-point lead (EuroLeague play-by-play). Johnny Juzang scored all ten of his points for Fenerbahçe in that quarter, but the visitors never got closer than 12 points again (EuroLeague play-by-play and box score).

Lessort and Hayes-Davis scored 19 points each for Panathinaikos. Lessort also took eight rebounds, which means collecting the ball after a missed shot (EuroLeague box score; Basketnews). Francisco added 17 points and seven assists, passes that lead directly to a basket (EuroLeague box score). Braxton Key led Fenerbahçe with 13 points and seven rebounds, and Juzang added 10 (EuroLeague box score; Anadolu Agency).

Panathinaikos won with defence. Fenerbahçe lost the ball 17 times without getting a shot away, against ten such turnovers for Panathinaikos (EuroLeague box score). Panathinaikos also got to the free-throw line far more often, making 21 of 32 free throws, while Fenerbahçe made nine of 13 (EuroLeague box score). Fenerbahçe made only nine of their 30 three-point attempts (EuroLeague box score).

Obradović said afterwards that defence had carried his team when its attack struggled. "If you have a problem on offense, you need to continue to play very hard defensively," he said. He picked out one player by name, Isaac Bonga, as "amazing defensively" (Basketnews). Bonga did not score in nearly 22 minutes on court and took only one shot, which shows the praise was for his defending alone (Basketnews; EuroLeague box score).

Panathinaikos play at Partizan in Belgrade on Tuesday, 13 October, at 20:30 CEST, which is 2:30 p.m. ET. Fenerbahçe host Žalgiris Kaunas of Lithuania in Istanbul the same evening at 19:45 CEST, which is 1:45 p.m. ET, and Valencia host Olympiacos at 21:00 CEST, which is 3 p.m. ET (EuroLeague schedule).

What a reader can take from Thursday in Athens is that Panathinaikos beat one of the league's strongest teams by 18 points mainly by stopping them, and are now one of only two teams without a loss.