Panathinaikos Athens, second in the Euroleague regular season, qualified for the final on Friday. In Berlin, scene of the Final Four, the Greek team dominated Fenerbahçe Istanbul (73-57) in the half. This is the first Euroleague final for “Pana” since 2011, also the year of its last victory.
The Athens team, where French pivot Mathias Lessort has been playing since this season, attacked very hard a meeting delayed due to incidents between supporters of the two teams. After four minutes of play, Panathinaikos led 12-0, before ending the first quarter with a slightly smaller lead (22-13).
But, in the next two quarters, the “Fener” woke up (38-36 at the break) and remained in the wake of his opponent, without ever overtaking him in the score. In the 26th minute, there was only one point difference between the two teams (51-50). This is the moment that the Athenians chose to move up a gear.
Lessort top scorer of the match
They first inflicted a 9-0 on Istanbul. And above all, they limited the latter to seven points scored in the last quarter. The lead continued to increase until the final 73-57, which represented the largest gap of the game. Mathias Lessort was the top scorer for “Pana” – and the match – with 17 points. The Frenchman also signed a double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds.
Lessort was assisted by Kendrick Nunn (14 pts), also arriving this year after four NBA seasons (and a final lost with Miami in 2020), and Jerian Grant (13). In the ranks of Fenerbahçe, Nigel Hayes-Davis (14 pts), Marko Guduric (10) and Nathan Sestina (10) were the most prominent. French power forward Amine Noua did not play.
All eyes will now turn to Real Madrid and Olympiakos Piraeus, who face each other in the other semi-final from 9 p.m.
