Hapoel Tel Aviv Beats Panathinaikos 91–81 in Athens
Panathinaikos loses for the first time this season
Hapoel Tel Aviv beat Panathinaikos 91–81 at the Telekom Center in Athens, the first loss of the season for Panathinaikos after five wins.
Hapoel went into the fourth quarter ahead 68–61, and Zach LeDay's three-pointer made it 71–61. Panathinaikos then kept Hapoel scoreless for four and a half minutes and scored 11 straight to lead 72–71. From 76–76 with three and a half minutes left, Hapoel outscored Panathinaikos 15–5.
LeDay scored 17 points, Elijah Bryant 14 and Dan Oturu 13. Vasilije Micic had nine points and eight assists. Sylvain Francisco scored 22 for Panathinaikos, which made 5 of 21 three-point shots and played without Kostas Sloukas, Kendrick Nunn, Nikos Rogkavopoulos and Isaac Bonga.
"Hapoel deserved the win today," said Željko Obradović, the Panathinaikos coach. Hapoel's coach, Dimitris Itoudis, was his assistant at the club from 1999 to 2012.
Panathinaikos is 5–1 and still first, level on record with Fenerbahçe and Olympiacos. Hapoel is 4–2.
Hapoel Tel Aviv beat Panathinaikos 91–81 at the Telekom Center in Athens, the first loss of the season for Panathinaikos after five wins. The crowd was 17,015.
Hapoel led 29–25 after the first quarter and 48–46 at halftime. Panathinaikos never led by more than four points. Elijah Bryant scored two baskets in the last 70 seconds of the third quarter as Hapoel went into the fourth ahead 68–61.
Zach LeDay made a three-pointer to start the fourth quarter for a 71–61 lead. Panathinaikos then kept Hapoel scoreless for four and a half minutes and scored 11 straight. Brancou Badio, Mathias Lessort and Juancho Hernangómez scored two-point baskets, and Jerian Grant scored the last five, on a three-pointer and a two-point basket, to lead 72–71.
Amir Coffey put Hapoel back in front. Sylvain Francisco tied it at 74–74, and Bryant and Badio traded pairs of free throws to make it 76–76 with three and a half minutes left. From there Hapoel outscored Panathinaikos 15–5. Dan Oturu scored three points on one possession, Bryant made a three-pointer for 82–78, LeDay added a two-point basket, and Vasilije Micic's three-pointer made it 87–79 with 68 seconds left.
LeDay finished with 17 points, Bryant with 14, 12 of them after halftime, and Oturu with 13. Micic had nine points and eight assists. Hapoel made 9 of 20 three-point shots, had 22 assists and outrebounded Panathinaikos 34–27.
Francisco scored 22 points for Panathinaikos, making 6 of 8 two-point shots, and Badio scored 12. Lessort added 11. Panathinaikos made 20 of 27 free throws but only 5 of 21 from three-point range. The home side played without Kostas Sloukas, Kendrick Nunn, Nikos Rogkavopoulos and Isaac Bonga.
Hapoel's coach, Dimitris Itoudis, was the assistant to Željko Obradović, the Panathinaikos coach, at the club from 1999 to 2012.
"In the second half we played better, we changed the momentum. We did not make good decisions on offense. Hapoel deserved the win today," Obradović said.
"The game is moments. One moment we were ahead, the next Panathinaikos were. When we went ahead by 10, we gave up an 11–0 run," Itoudis said. "We are the same team that lost to Bayern at the start. We are still building."
Panathinaikos is 5–1 and still first, level on record with Fenerbahçe and Olympiacos. Hapoel is 4–2. Panathinaikos plays Baskonia at home next, and Hapoel plays Virtus Bologna.
In other games, Beşiktaş beat Bayern Munich 95–87 in Istanbul, Crvena Zvezda beat Paris 90–81 in Belgrade, Anadolu Efes won 85–70 at Zalgiris Kaunas, and Virtus Bologna beat Baskonia 86–78. Olympiacos won 105–100 in overtime at Barcelona.