A rematch of last season’s championship game saw the home team dominate from start to finish
Panathinaikos blasts past Real, 85-70

Reigning champion Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens enjoyed another triumph over last season’s beaten finalist Real Madrid, taking a comfortable 85-70 victory in Athens. The Greens improved to 18-10 to strengthen their top four position, while Real dropped to 14-14.
The Greens dominated early to take a double-digit lead in the first quarter, and stayed ahead the rest of the way despite Real’s attempts to hang in the game. Kendrick Nunn led the scoring with 18 points, while Jerian Grant combined 11 points with 9 assists, Kostas Sloukas had 10 points and 7 assists, Dinos Mitoglou scored 15 with 9 rebounds, and Juancho Hernangomez added 12. Real was led by Mario Hezonja with 18 points and Walter Tavares with 16, with Dzanan Musa scoring 12 and Sergio Llull adding 10.
Game Videos
Neither team scored in the first 2 minutes, before Hezonja’s layup opened the scoring. Wenyen Gabriel got the hosts on the scoreboard and Hernangomez netted the game’s first triple. Hezonja stayed hot with two more scores, but Hernangomez’s reverse layup and Nunn’s spectacular slam made it 11-6. Hernangomez again struck from deep before inside scores from Tavares and Alberto Abalde were bettered by Nunn at the rim and Cedi Osman from deep for a 19-11 lead. Nunn added a triple and a buzzer-beating jumper, making it 24-13 after 10 minutes.
Hezonja continued to pace Real with the opening bucket of the second quarter, but Mitoglou responded with a three and a layup for a 29-17 lead. Tavares scored twice, but Nunn hit another deep strike before Musa, Tavares and Hugo Gonzalez pulled Real closer, 33-27. Llull and Sloukas traded two-pointers, and Lorenzo Brown kept Panathinaikos moving with another three-pointer. Musa and Bruno Fernando were on target for Real and it was 40-33 at halftime.
Grant’s three-pointer opened the second half, before two scores from Gabriel made it a 15-point margin. Hezonja finally struck Real’s first three-pointer of the night and soon completed a 0-8 run with an alleyoop slam, pulling it back to 48-42. The visitors kept pushing through Facundo Campazzo’s floater, but Grant’s three-point play rescued the Greens. Hezonja and Nunn exchanged thrilling slams before Sloukas and Mitoglou restored a double-digit lead, but Llull’s trademark three-pointer made it 63-53 with 10 minutes left.
Layups from Musa and Fernando pulled Real closer, but free throws settled Panathinaikos and Mitoglou’s three-pointer made it 68-59 with 6 minutes to play. Sloukas added a fastbreak layup for another double-digit advantage, but another Tavares dunk kept Real hoping. Nunn scored twice either side of Llull’s triple and Grant’s three made it 79-68 with 2 minutes left. Mitoglou’s layup removed any lingering doubt as the Greens cruised home with Hernangomez’s three-point play.