Barça beat Panathinaikos, the reigning Euroleague champion, in their third consecutive victory in European competition. A packed Palau, with hundreds of Greek fans, witnessed an important victory for the blaugranas. Jabari Parker dressed as MVP to lead the triumph.
The First Half, in Green
Panathinaikos started better than Barça. The Greeks dominated the game in the first two quarters, managing to hold Barça to just 30 points. Only Jabari Parker and Metu were inspired in attack for the blaugranas in the first half.
Despite not showing their best version, Barça reached halftime still in the game, with an 8-point deficit. 30-38 was the score displayed on the scoreboard at the end of the first 20 minutes of play.
Total Reaction in the Second Half
The halftime break worked wonders for Barça, who completely changed their face. The Palau got connected, and the team started to perform much better. When things looked bleak, a 10-0 run put Barça ahead on the scoreboard.
From there, the trend was constantly in favor of the blaugrana team, with Parker as their main reference. The American kept doing his thing and finished the game with an offensive exhibition (25 points, 8 rebounds, and a 27 rating). Darío Brizuela's figure also emerged.
The Spaniard scored one of his three-pointers right at the start of the last quarter, allowing Barça to continue leading comfortably. He finished the game with 15 points and 3 three-pointers. In the end, Joan Peñarroya's team managed to close the game and secure both the victory (82-73) and recover the average against Panathinaikos.
Ataman's Show in the Press Conference
The Turkish coach, as expected, put on a show at the end of the match. First in the mixed zone and then in the press conference, he showed his anger with the refereeing. The coach said he congratulated his players for winning the basketball game in the first half.
However, he declared that in the second half, they played American soccer. He also complained that his team was called for up to seven offensive fouls.
Barça, Thinking about Efes
Barça was able to celebrate the victory yesterday, but today they play again, this time against Anadolu Efes. The game will also be played at the Palau and is a golden opportunity to climb positions in the standings. If they win, it would be Barça's fourth consecutive victory in the Euroleague.