In Shelvin Mack’s first appearance with Panathinaikos, Anadolu Efes stole the win from the “Greens” after an outstanding performance from Vasilije Micic, who scored a new career high of 33 points. The Turkish club added another road win in their collection this year, defeating Panathinaikos, 77-80, in Athens on Friday night (13/11).
Along with the 33 points from Vasilije Micic, Krunoslav Simon added another solid 12 points. Newcomer, Shelvin Mack was the top scorer for Panathinaikos with 18 points, with George Papagiannis posting 16.
The Match
With Giorgos Papagiannis making an impressive start in the game, with one block and a three-point play, Panathinaikos entered the game determined to fight from the very first minute (7-4). The “Greens” managed to take control of the rebounds and renew their possessions, but Anadolu Efes was taking all the opportunities Panathinaikos was giving them, scoring from the free-throw line, having Vasilije Micic at a great night (nine points in the first quarter). Papapetrou’s passing and scoring ability (eight points in the first 10 minutes of play), helped Panathinaikos end the first quarter leading by a single point (22-21).
Panathinaikos entered the second quarter running a 5-0 score with a two-point shot from Dinos Mitoglou and a three-pointer from the newcomer, Shelvin Mack (27-21). With Panathinaikos grabbing the offensive rebounds and renewing their possessions, the players of coach Vovoras got a seven-point lead (33-26), with Anadolu Efes trying to respond with Tuncher (33-31). With Papagiannis being unstoppable and showing his range of shots, Panathinaikos finished the first half leading by four points (40-36).
Vasilije Micic led Anadolu Efes in the third quarter, trying to bring his team back on the game and with consecutive points from him made the game a single point one for Panathinaikos (44-43). Vasilije Micic, with his fourth three-pointer of the night, gave the lead to Anadolu Efes (48-50), but Shelvin Mack tied the game for Panathinaikos with consecutive baskets (52-52) and two minutes remaining until the end of the third quarter. That didn’t seem like a problem for Micic, who, with 15 points just in the second half, gave back the lead to his team (52-55). Efes got their biggest lead in the game a couple of second later (52-57) with Moerman and ended the third quarter, 54-59.
The fourth and final quarter, found Anadolu Efes having their largest lead in the game (54-63) with an unstoppable Micic safely leading his team to the win. Panathinaikos tried to return on the game (61-67) and got even closer on the score (66-70) with two free throws from Shelvin Mack. Consecutive baskets from Shelvin Mack and Adrien Moerman brought the game to six (71-77) with 1:30 minutes to go until the end of the match. A big three from Papagiannis brought the score to 74-79, but Efes managed to get the win in OAKA, 77-80.
