Panathinaikos loses to CSKA in overtime
CSKA broke Panathinaikos’s perfect record this season in the Euroleague as the Moscow giant beat the trophy holder in Athens with a 78-76 score in overtime on November 10.
The hosts’ bad luck was compounded by an injury sustained by vice captain Costas Tsartsaris, who will have to sit out the next six weeks at least.
The Greens took a 10-point lead in the second period (36-26) and led for most of the game, thanks to containing the Russian attack that normally scores 90 points per game in the Euroleague.
Led by Costas Kaimakoglou (13 points) and Nick Calathes (11), Panathinaikos were dominant on what was a relatively quiet night for CSKA superstar Andrei Kirilenko of NBA fame. The former Utah Jazz player scored only nine points in Athens.
However, after Panathinaikos skipper Dimitris Diamantidis unusually fouled out in the fourth period, the Greeks were unable to find the target and surrendered a nine-point advantage (67-58) to go into overtime with the score at 71-71 after the 40 minutes.
It was not to be their night, as the Greens? bad moves in attack were punished in overtime by an experienced CSKA side, which is the favorite for this year’s trophy.
