Panathinaikos thrashes Malaga in Euroleague’s start
Panathinaikos began the defense of its Euroleague title in style as it saw off Spanish league leader Unicaja Malaga with a 98-77 score at home on October 20.
The Greens were at times irresistible in attack, scoring 12 out of 19 three-pointers and having seven players with double-digit scoring figures.
Malaga, unbeaten in the Spanish league, troubled Panathinaikos only in the second period, which saw the first half end 52-49 in the Greeks? favor.
Playing in front of some 7,500-8,000 fans, Panathinaikos stepped up its game in the second half to produce some spectacular basketball despite having played no competitive games yet, except for a cup game against a depleted Maroussi side.
The Greeks? top scorers on the night were Dimitris Diamantidis (17 points), Romain Sato (16) and Steven Smith (13).
Sarunas Jasikevicius enjoyed a particularly warm reception when he entered the court in his first competitive game with Panathinaikos after his return to the club. He went on to score 10 points.
Panathinaikos will next play KK Zagreb in Croatia on October 26.
