With Johannes Thiemann scoring four consecutive triples in the third period and putting ALBA back on the game, the Germans got a big 74-65 win against Panathinaikos on Friday night (26/2). Panathinaikos started the game well securing safe leads but the second half was not as successful as coach Kattash had designed.
Johannes Thiemann was the top scorer of ALBA Berlin with 16 points and 4/5 triples while Marcus Eriksson scored another 12. For Panathinaikos, Aaron White was the leading scorer with 14 points with Dinos Mitoglou adding 9.
A short lead coming straight from defense
Panathinaikos started the first quarter of the match with an early 6-point lead against ALBA (2-8), playing great, tough defense against the hosts and staying perfect from inside the paint. ALBA found some tough shots against Panathinaikos with Fontecchio and covered the difference quickly. The two teams went head-to-head for the rest of the quarter with Panathinaikos securing a 6-point lead at the end of the first 10 minutes (11-17).
They were losing and taking back their lead
ALBA started finding their rhythm in offense in the second quarter but the hosts still had to deal with Panathinaikos’ great defense and find solutions. With a physical game between the two teams it wasn’t very easy for either of them to find their way to the opponent basket but Panathinaikos was patiently moving the ball around trying to find the best option on offense. That, had as a result the hosts to get an 10-point lead in the second quarter (17-27). ALBA attempted a comeback trying to challenge Panathinaikos and come back to the score but Panathinaikos was confident enough to retain their lead and head to the locker rooms leading by 6 points (28-34).
The triples put the back on the match
Coming back from the locker rooms, ALBA strengthened their defense, moved the ball in offense, found some big three pointers and came back on the match tying is at 43 and putting Panathinaikos into trouble. The guests seemed to be struggling on offense missed some shots and went loose on defense. Berlin returned on the match and closed the third quarter trailing by 3 points (50-53).
They had the momentum, they got the match
Panathinaikos needed to find their rhythm again in the fourth quarter, with ALBA tying the game early in the last quarter and making the game between the two teams very interesting (53-53). The guests were confident shooting from the perimeter in the second half and with four consecutive triples from Thiemann got their biggest lead of the match, forcing coach Kattash to a time out (62-55). ALBA Berlin never looked back and managed to close the match and get the 74-65 home win.
