Panathinaikos and Emporio Armani record wins: Euroleague Basketball October 20 review – Part 3
Panathinaikos vs Unicaja
Defending Euroleague champions, Panathinaikos started their campaign from where they left off last season as they battered Unicaja of Spain 98-77 in the season opener.
Panathinaikos entered the game without their stars, Stratos Perperoglou and Kostas Tsartsaris, who both were forced out as a result of injuries, however their absence did not bother the team much.
Seven out of the twelve players ended with scores in double figures in what was totally dominant performance by the Greeks. Dimitris Diamantidis was the highest scorer with 17 points and 7 assists and Romain Sato ended the game
with 16 points and 6 rebounds.
Panathinaiko’s were brilliant at free throws and three-point shooting knocking down 12 out of 19 three-pointers and 14 out of the 19 free throws.
Hrvoje Peric and Kristaps Valters were the two highlights from Unicaja, both ending with 13 points each. Nedzad Sinanovic was also impressive and chipped in with 11 points and 8 rebounds.
Unicaja fought hard in the first half and did not allow the mighty Panathinaikos to run away with the show. At the break, the game was evenly poised with Panathinaikos only leading by 3 points 52-49.
However an 11 point run including three three-pointers in the starting minutes of the third quarter changed all that and took the game miles away from Unicaja. They tried to bounce back, but Panathinaikos defense was just too strong
to run over.
Emporio Armani vs Maccabi Electra
Emporio Armani started their Euroleague quest in style by edging out Maccabi Electra 89-82 in a crunch game.
Malik Hairston led the winning team with 25 points and 7 rebounds but it was not his effort alone that saw the team home. Danilo Gallinari chipped in with 23 points and Ioannis Bourousis constituted a double-double with 13 points
and 10 rebounds.
From Maccabi’s side, Lior Eliyahu was the stand out player, ending with 21 points and 8 rebounds. David Blu also made a vital contribution with 17 points but other than these two, there was no significant contribution from anyone.
The game was in balance by the end of the first half with Armani only leading by 3 points 41-38. However, Armani pulled midway through the third quarter with a 14-4 run and although Macabi tried hard in the last 10 minutes to mount
a comeback, they never really troubled Armani, the rest of the way.
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