Pablo Laso's men remained in the race for postseason places with an emphatic win over Panathinaikos
Baskonia starters shined against the defending champions
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Regular Season
Round 22 of 34
Group Regular Season
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On Friday night, Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz proved once again just how dangerous it can be. Despite missing team captain Tadas Sedekerskis, and despite Markus Howard still out of his groove on his first game back after missing the last two weeks of action, Baskonia controlled things for all but 40 minutes in a 91-77 win over Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens.
Baskonia had multiple double-digit leads in the first half and throughout the second, before the Greens got within 82-77. But Baskonia kept the visitors scoreless for the final 3 minutes and 18 seconds to claim a big win.
“We have great talent in this team and a great potential,” said Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, who paced the team with 20 points and 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. “If we play like this, we can play eye-to-eye against anybody, we can win against anybody.”
Satisfaction with the performance also came from head coach Pablo Laso, who confirmed he was very happy with not only this game but also the performance on Tuesday in an overtime loss against Olympiacos Piraeus.
“We were able to play concentrated for 40 minutes,” Laso said. “Basketball was not fair the other day [against Olympiacos], we played well but lost at the end. Today, we stayed the same way and got the victory.”
In addition to Luwawu-Cabarrot, Baskonia got big nights from Chima Moneke, who finished with 18 points, Kamar Baldwin with 15 points and 7 assists, Trent Forrest with 12 points and 5 assists, and Donta Hall with 11 points.
All but Hall were Baskonia’s starters. Khalifa Diop, who started the game, had 2 points, which means Baskonia starters accounted for 67 points, but also 19 rebounds and 19 assists. Moneke and Luwawu-Cabarrot each had a +23 when on the floor.
It all led to a much-needed win, which came after three consecutive losses, but each of those were by just 2 points or fewer.
“Winning is always important. When you win, it looks like everything is good. But as a coach, you probably have to be critical with your team even if you win. But at the end, winning always gives you that push that any team in any sport needs,” Laso claimed.
Baskonia now holds a 9-13 record, still in 15th place in the standings, but with an eye on moving up.
“Every game matters,” Moneke reminded us in his EuroLeague TV interview after the game. “We know our position is not the best, but we believe in ourselves, we will keep fighting. There are 12 games left and this year is super close, so we are not gonna give up.”
Only three games out of the play-in places, and only four games behind the teams tied for fourth place, Baskonia indeed still has plenty of time to catch up. If the team plays like it did on Friday night, there could be many more celebrations for Baskonia and its fans in the final three months of the regular season.