Panathinaikos BC AKTOR was defeated by Paris Basketball 104-99 at Telekom Center Athens, in a game for Round 29 of the EuroLeague regular season. Nigel Hayes-Davis was the Greens’ top scorer with 27 points.

The game was balanced in its opening minutes, with the two teams tied 3-3 in the 3rd minute. The visitors went on a 7-0 run to make it 16-9 in the 5th minute, before Panathinaikos BC AKTOR cut the deficit to 16-14 a minute later.

Paris Basketball extended the lead to 24-18 in the 8th minute, but in the 9th the Greens tied the game at 26-26, with the first quarter ending 29-29. In the 12th minute, Panathinaikos BC AKTOR took the lead at 36-34, but in the 14th the visitors went back in front, 42-36.

The French side pulled away to 46-38 in the 16th minute and went into halftime ahead 58-45. In the 22nd minute, Panathinaikos BC AKTOR reduced the deficit to 58-50, but in the 24th the visitors stretched the lead to 67-55. Paris Basketball made it 76-64 in the 27th minute and pushed the margin up to +17 (91-74). With a late surge in the final period, the Greens cut the gap to a one-possession game (99-101), but they were unable to complete the comeback and eventually fell 104-99.

Quarters: 29-29, 58-45, 80-70, 104-99.

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR (Ataman): Shorts 14 (1), Kalaitzakis, Osman 12, Holmes 4, Sloukas 6, Hayes-Davis 27 (4), Rogkavopoulos 10 (2), Grant 7 (1), Faried 17, Grigonis, Hernangomez 2, Mitoglou.

Paris Basketball (Tabellini): Hifi 20 (4), Cavaliere 10 (2), Robinson 13 (1), Herrera 3 (1), Rhoden 9 (1), Stevens 14 (1), Dokossi 8, Faye 2, Morgan 14 (4), Ouattara 3 (1), Homs, Willis 8 (2).

Serelis: “We lost the game because we didn’t play good defense”

Christos Serelis, assistant coach to Ergin Ataman at Panathinaikos BC AKTOR, stated at the Press Conference following the home game against Paris Basketball:

“Congratulations to Paris, they played a very good game. Defensively, we didn’t start the game well. We allowed them to score in transition, out of pick-and-roll situations, our one-on-one defense was poor, and they scored almost 60 points in the first half. They gained confidence in the second half. We tried, but we didn’t play well. Only in the last five minutes did we play aggressive defense, and we scored difficult, big shots with Hayes-Davis and Rogkavopoulos. We had the chance to win on the last possession. It might have been a foul on Nigel, but overall it’s true that they played better than us and we lost the game because we didn’t play good defense.

Paris is threatening from the very first seconds of the game. We know that, all the players know it, because they’ve been playing in the EuroLeague for years, but it’s not something common. I think that was the part where we completely failed. We weren’t aggressive and tough in the first seconds of our defensive possessions. That’s what we were asking for throughout the game, and it only happened at the end. Paris was playing with one main ball-handler, and in the last five minutes we managed to take him away from the rest of the team. That’s why we were able to get some stops and get back into the game with some difficult shots, without even playing our usual offensive basketball. What needs to happen is that we must be more focused defensively on our game plan. There are no more excuses. Poor concentration, whether by one player or the whole team, is not acceptable. There aren’t many games left to make a comeback. All teams can beat everyone. We’ve lost some games and we remain more or less in the same position in the standings as we were three or four weeks ago. We’ve missed some opportunities — they won’t keep coming. We have to take advantage of the opportunities we get.

We were waiting to see if the momentum would turn in our favor, because the way the last penalty was celebrated felt like we had won the game. Unfortunately, it coincided with halftime. If it had come a little earlier or later, it might have given us an extra boost. Congratulations to the players and coaches of Panathinaikos’ football team, and we hope for a better continuation.

Three-point shots are not the Achilles’ heel — it’s the way opponents are shooting them. Obviously, our defense is not where it should be in many parts of the game, and that’s why we are losing games. About five days ago, our biggest rival — a better team than Paris — shot 1/13 from three in the first half. We played better defense and they missed. I don’t think it’s about three-point shooting. Today we also allowed points in the paint; it was simply not good defense. We didn’t play well defensively. The level has risen across all teams; there are players everywhere who can score, games no longer finish at 75 points but much higher. We must not make it easier and give confidence to our opponents. I’ll say this one last time: the arena we have is fantastic, the atmosphere is amazing, the fans fill the stands, but sometimes that can also give a boost to the opponent. It may sound strange. The team has to turn that into a disadvantage for the opponent through toughness and by bringing the crowd into the game defensively. Many times we don’t do that, and that hurts us.”