Panathinaikos BC AKTOR defeated Dubai Basketball 103–82 at the Telekom Center Athens, in a Round 12 matchup of the EuroLeague regular season. Kendrick Nunn was the top scorer for the greens with 22 points.

The game was balanced in its opening minutes, with Panathinaikos BC AKTOR leading 12–11 at 4’ and the visitors going ahead 17–14 at 6’. In the 7th minute Dubai Basketball extended the lead to 22–16, but the greens jumped ahead 25–24 at 9’, which was also the score at the end of the first quarter. The visitors regained control 30–29 at 13’, with the greens leading 33–32 at 15’. The two teams remained close on the scoreboard, and halftime found Dubai Basketball in front 48–45. At 24’ Panathinaikos BC AKTOR tied the game (52–52) and at 27’ took the lead 64–61.

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR continued its surge and at 28’ built a 68–61 advantage, while a minute later the margin reached double digits (73–61). The third quarter ended with the greens leading 75–62, and at 31’ the score became 79–62. At 32’ the lead exceeded 20 points (85–62) and at 35’ reached 24 (92–68), holding firm until the final 103–82.

Quarter: 25–24, 45–48, 75–62, 103–82.

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR (Ataman): Shorts 7 (1), Kalaitzakis 2, Osman 7 (1), Sloukas 15 (1), Rogkavopoulos 9 (1), Samodurov, Grant 15 (3), Nunn 22 (1), Faried 9, Grigonis, Hernangomez 7 (1), Mitoglou 10 (2).
Dubai Basketball (Golemac): Avramovic, Abbas 11 (2), Prepelic, Bertans 3, Ellis 15 (1), Anderson, Conditt 1, Kabengele 18, Wright 8, Petrusev 12, Ryan 8 (2), Kamenjas 6.

Ataman: “Everyone played well in the second half”

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR head coach Ergin Ataman stated in the post-game Press Conference following the home win over Dubai Basketball:

“We played two different halves. In the first we had no energy and defensively we made a lot of mistakes in 1v1 situations. They beat us repeatedly in those 1v1s and we gave up too many points on the side pick-and-roll. Offensively, we couldn’t find our rhythm and made many mistakes in transition. We gave them control of the game. We talked about it with the coaches and the players — Serelis insisted that we put Kalaitzakis on defense to improve our aggressivity, and I give him full credit.

We put Kalaitzakis on Wright, who had created many assists in the first half. With this aggressiveness we disrupted their offense and started defending well. Nunn, after the crucial mistake he made in the final second of the first half, was more focused in the second and played extremely aggressively. Sloukas played perfectly on offense. Big contribution from Faried. Everyone played well in the second half.

We have to compete with our opponents, but we also need competition within the team, because we can’t extend game minutes — only five players play. Whoever is in good condition can play more minutes. That’s why players need to compete to show their abilities. Last week Shorts played excellently in Paris and Madrid. Grant played one minute in Madrid, but today he was one of the best on the court. This is crucial with such a roster — having internal competition within the team.”