Five days after the painful defeat at the Palau against Real Madrid, Barça lost again because of a basket in the final seconds. If then it was a meritorious triple by Campazzo that forced the first of the overtimes, paving the way for the white victory, this time it was a free kick by Mathias Lessort with 3 seconds left that killed Barça (90-89) after of a match full of alternatives and if the Blaugrana did not win it was due to the masterful performance of Kendrick Nunn (29 points).
Barça lost in Athens but after offering a more than worthy image, much better than the last games. Despite the numerous casualties (Laprovittola, Metu, Neto, Brizuela), Joan Peñarroya’s team has never lost face in the game, led at the beginning by an unstoppable Juan Núñez and an inspired Jabari Parker and after the break due to the explosion Abrines scorer.
José Ignacio Huguet
The problem for Barça, which for many minutes has been at a level equal to or higher than its rival, has been that it had Nunn in front of it. Just a few days ago Aleksandar Vezenkov pointed him out as the best player in the Euroleague and the American shooting guard proved the star of his archrival Olympiacos right with a dream performance. Nunn not only scored 29 points but also scored two triples from midfield at the end of the first and third quarters and another ‘buzzer beater’ at the half-time buzzer.
Barça had reached an 11-point lead in the third quarter (55-66) supported by great defensive work and a scoring streak by Abrines (10 points in that period). Barça still led by nine in the 29th minute (60-69) but at that moment Nunn completely took over the game to tie it with three triples in a row. The guard did not stop there and led a 17-2 run that put the Greeks six up in the 34th minute (77-71).
But Barça has not let go this time. With Núñez and Satoransky infecting the rest with their bravery, the Barça team regained its chances until tying with 1:37 left (84-84) with a triple by Kevin Punter, one of the little things he did in the game. A loss in the middle of the court that gave way to a dunk by Lessort seemed to condemn Barça (87-84) but a lucky tap by Vesely and three free throws by Abrines restored the tie (89-89) with only 8 seconds left. play.
Lessort only scored one free throw in the Greek attack (90-89) but Barça did not find a way to make the final three seconds profitable, with Núñez’s pass missing the baseline to the delirium of the OAKA fans.
Technical sheet
Panathinaikos-Barça, 90-89
90. Panathinaikos (25+20+18+27): Kalaitzakis (-), Brown (18), Grant (8), Hernangómez (4), Lessort (16) -starting team-, Sloukas (6), Nunn (29 ), Mitoglou (9), Yurtseven (-) and Osman (-).
89. Barça (19+26+24+20): Satoransky (11), Punter (6), Abrines (13), Parker (15), Vesely (7) -starting team-, Anderson (8), Núñez (19 ), Hernangómez (6), Parra (4) and Sarr (-).
Referees: Damir Javor (ESL), Carmelo Paternico (ITA) and Luka Kardum (CRO). They eliminated local Nunn with five fouls (min.40). They pointed out a technical foul to the local coach Ataman (min.29).
Incidents: matchday 13 of the Euroleague played at the OAKA Arena in Athens.
