The Greens have clinched home-court advantage heading into the playoffs
Panathinaikos gains momentum with statement win ahead of postseason
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Regular Season
Round 33 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens’s main objective in the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season was clinching a top-four spot. Being aware that in Oaka Altion the Greens boast one of the most-feared arenas in the competition, where losing is more of a rarity for the hosts, the reigning champion made securing home-court advantage for the postseason their main goal.
The team’s latest concerning performances against Olympiacos Piraeus, ALBA Berlin and Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv came to a head with 98-101 home loss to Paris Basketball last week. After the game, a displeased Ergin Ataman didn’t hesitate to call out his players in his bid to provide his team with a wake-up call ahead of the playoffs.
"We are not playing good basketball, we play like veteran teams,” he said in the post-game press conference after the loss to Paris. “I talk like this now and in the locker room. It's also my responsibility, but we are not working well. Basketball is fighting, basketball is making defense. We're just making that when we are down. We only show effort in the last quarters; it was the same against ALBA, Maccabi and Olympiacos.”
And it worked. Ataman had previously slammed Panathinaikos’s poor starts to their games during the season, but this time, away at AS Monaco, his team was dominant from the off. The Greens hit the ground running and took a 21-32 lead into the second quarter.
The first quarter saw the visitors go an eye-popping 13-for-15 from the field and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. Ataman’s side shared the ball well, finding open looks and recording 8 of their 18 assists in the first 10 minutes.
“Our first quarter was the key to the game, because we were perfect on defense and offense, [where] we found good shot selection,” Ataman said in the post-game press conference. “Starting the game like we did in the first quarter gave us confidence.”
Monaco went on a 16-0 run across the second and third quarter, cutting the difference to 48-49, but Kendrick Nunn came to the fore with 9 points and an assist in a 0-11 charge to regain a double-digit cushion. Panathinaikos never looked back.
“We came here with one job,” a locked-in Nunn, who netted 37, told EuroLeague TV. “To get the win on the road. It was a tough one, but we came out aggressive from the beginning and maintained it throughout the game. It’s definitely an advantage as we all know. And we need that. Like I said a few games before, treating every game like a playoff game from now on and for the rest of the season.”
There is no better way to bounce back from adversity in basketball than by grabbing a statement victory away at a fellow title contender. Panathinaikos’s performance at Monaco could serve as a springboard for the remainder of the season. Having gained momentum, the Greens are aware that clinching a top-four spot is a huge step towards their next objective: securing a Final Four spot.
And Ataman didn’t hesitate to remind opponents that Panathinaikos is one of the best home-court teams in the competition.
“Our first goal of the season was to keep home-court advantage in the playoffs,” Ataman told EuroLeague TV. “Now, we have one more game. We will try to finish the regular season in second or third position. We have the home-court advantage, so in OAKA it will be very difficult for all opponents to win in the playoffs. Playing this basketball, in this kind of a game, will give us a lot of positive things for the playoffs and the Final Four.”
With its victory on Thursday evening, Panathinaikos sent a clear message to the rest of the title aspirants: to win the trophy you first need to overcome the reigning champion.