In big game situations, Juan Carlos Navarro once again delivered, but it was an out of form Brazilian that hit the final nail in Panathinaikos’ coffin.
Navarro led Barcelona with 15 points and Marcelinho Huertas hit 10, including a clutch three-pointer to make it 62-53 with 1:39 remaining as the Catalan side beat Panathinaikos 64-53, winning a grueling quarter-final series 3-2 and to book their ticket to a fourth Euroleague Final Four in five seasons where they will face bitter rivals Real Madrid at the O2 Arena in London on May 10.
“We had a fantastic start but they made it really hard for us in the second half,” Navarro said. “It was tough to play offence against them. We knew it would be a complicated game.
“They improved in the second half, but we won, which is what matters. We did a good job and even though Panathinaikos was fourth in its Top 16 group, it is a very experienced team. We must rest now.”
Nathan Jawai added nine points and six rebounds for the winners. He was also a heavy contributor to Barcelona’s resounding rebounding advantage by winning that statline 46-32. The hosts pulled down 19 offensive boards as they dominated their much smaller opponents.
“We are happy, but this is not the end,” Jawai stated. “Panathinaikos took us to five games. They played well, but we found a way to beat them. We fought hard during the season for home-court advantage and we won at home.”
Panathinaikos miss out on three straight trips to the Final Four and after working tirelessly to go 2-1 up, they let it slip from their grasp. The Greens had their best chance to seal a 3-1 series win in-front of 20,000 screaming fans at the OAKA but they faltered. When it was all said and done, the true difference in this series was that Barcelona took their chances when it presented to them.
“It was a very intense game. There was a lot of emphasis on defence in this contest,” Panathinaikos coach Argiris Pedoulakis said.
“What took us out of the game was the three fouls on Diamantidis in the first quarter. We rushed our offence a lot, because we wanted to win so badly. Barcelona scored 28 points in the first quarter as a result of this. We did much better in the second and third quarters, and in the third we tried to take Navarro out of the game because he has the skills and experience to win these games in clutch time. We used a lot of switching on him, both on and off the ball.
Unfortunately though, Navarro was able to find gaps, no matter who was marking him. He hit five quick fire points to start the fourth to give his side a 56-45 lead. Whenever Panathinaikos got close, Navarro responded.
Stephane Lasme led Panathinaikos with 16 points but got very little assistance, not helped by the early foul trouble of Dimitris Diamantidis who picked up three fouls in the first quarter. He then picked up his fourth early in the third and was severely restricted from then. The Greens were also not helped by poor shooting, going just 1/16 from three-point land.
On the whole, it was comfortable for the hosts, buoyed by an excellent start where they led 20-10 with 2:57 left in the first, thanks to a three-point play by Erazem Lorbek. They never looked like losing the lead as the game went.
An 8-0 run early in the second period propelled Barcelona to a 37-18 lead before Diamantidis entered the game and provided the calming influence that the seemingly falling apart Greek side needed. Possession by possession and stop by stop, the Greens came back into the game, resulting in back-to-back buckets by Lasme in the end to narrow the gap to single digits at 42-33 before Jawai struck for the hosts to restore Barca’s double-digit lead at 44-33 at half-time.
The third quarter was a slow and scrappy affair – with neither team settling. Panathinaikos’ style of slow and methodical basketball suited the third quarter pace at times. Barcelona were struggling, unable to provide big men Jawai or Ante Tomic with sufficient service but the visitors didn’t take advantage of holding their opponents to just seven points. A lay-up by Diamantidis at the buzzer made sure that the Athens club hit double figures for the quarter but it was another opportunity lost.
Barcelona led 51-43 after three quarters and even though they were pegged back to six points, they never looked in danger.
“We are obviously happy to qualify for another Final Four,” admitted Barcelona coach Xavi Pascual. “The game was typical of a tight playoff series in terms of intensity. We started well, but in the second quarter we made a couple of defensive errors that let Panathinaikos close the game up a little. We then had a few imprecisions with our passing and shooting. It became one of those typical high-pressure games. We are frankly content with the result tonight.”
For Pascual, he celebrated his 100th game in charge with a spot in the Final Four at the O2 Arena. But the playcaller is now recharging his batteries so that he, along with the Liga Endesa side can prepare for Euroleague’s ‘El Classico’ in two weeks.
“For me, to celebrate 100 games in charge of Barcelona with qualification for the Final Four is ideal,” he said. “Winning Game 5 at home is also something that doesn’t happen every day. Now we will recuperate and gather our strength again for what awaits us in two weeks.”
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