The Argentine guard came up big for the Greens, who snapped their 18-game losing streak on Spanish soil.
Luca Vildoza fired on all cylinders as Panathinaikos ended its Spanish jinx
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Regular Season
Round 19 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens ground out a somewhat fortuitous but ultimately well-deserved 81-82 win at Valencia Basket, which gave the Greens their first win in 19 road games against Spanish rivals on Friday.
It also erased the bitter taste of a tough 75-73 loss at Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz on Wednesday, as the Greek team improved to 11-8 and boosted its hopes of reaching the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs. Valencia dropped to 10-9 after seeing victory slip through its fingers in a dramatic finish.
Luca Vildoza was the star man
With Kostas Sloukas unexpectedly sidelined several hours before the game, the visiting team’s backup playmaker Luca Vildoza stepped up to the plate and inspired Panathinaikos as he finished on a game-high 19 points, shooting 5-of-7 from downtown and 7-of-10 overall.
It was a welcome and timely reprieve for Vildoza, who came under scrutiny after some patchy performances, having struggled to hit the ground running at Panathinaikos after joining the six-time former EuroLeague champion from Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade during the offseason.
He produced his best performance this term at a happy hunting ground which brought back the fondest memories. “This court brings back a lot of happy memories as I won the [Spanish] League here with Baskonia,” a delighted Vildoza said in a flash post-game interview.
“I’ve been working hard and to be here is amazing. The team is showing character as we are building something great here. I am really happy for the team, but we have to keep working and keep improving,” he added.
A game that went down to the wire
The visitors won in the most dramatic fashion, as Mathias Lessort sank the game-winning free throw with 1.9 seconds left on the clock after Valencia had committed an offensive foul. Harper’s desperate attempt to force a final twist came to nothing as his shot at the buzzer was well off the mark.
The outcome was a welcome relief for head coach Ergin Ataman, who saw his team suffer a tough loss at Baskonia in similar circumstances. “We won the same way that we lost two days ago at Baskonia,” he said.
“We didn’t play well offensively as we were without Sloukas, who is the key to our offense. Kendrick Nunn had one of his worst games of the season, but Luca [Vildoza] and [Jerian] Grant kept the team up. We played good defense in the last 3 or 4 minutes and never gave up. It’s a very important win for us as we’ve now beaten Valencia twice this season.”
Grant was also instrumental in the visiting team’s success, having posted 13 points and 8 rebounds to complement Vildoza’s shooting prowess and Lessort’s die-hard approach. Grant pointed out that Panathinaikos was tailor-made for tough matchups going down to the wire.
“Our team is built for close games like this, we’ve been playing them all year and we’re getting better and better,” he commented. “We did it together, getting stops and sharing the ball, as well as making shots when we needed to.”