SPORTS

Emphatic Greens stroll to the playoffs

Panathinaikos advanced to the quarterfinals of the Euroleague on Thursday courtesy of its comprehensive 82-60 win at Brose Baskets Bamberg, but will have to wait till the last round of group games to find out which spot in the table it is going to get.

Led by a spectacular Jonas Maciulis, scorer of 24 points on the night, Panathinaikos made the most of a poor game by the stage’s only winless team to win in a far easier fashion in Germany than it had done in Athens.

Boosted by 200 Greek fans, the Greens led from start to finish and had the luxury of resting some of their top pick players for long spells of the game.

The 26 points the Greek cup winner scored in the first period (26-16) was a good omen for the rest of the game, as half-time saw the Greens lead 42-27 and the third quarter ended with a 59-41 score.

Maciulis made six out of seven three-pointers, plus two out of two two-pointers and free throws. James Gist also had a good game with 11 points and seven rebounds.

In the last round next week Panathinaikos is hosting group leader CSKA Moscow. Defeat for Panathinaikos will leave it at the fourth spot, to face Barcelona without home advantage in the playoffs.

But if Panathinaikos beats the Russians, it will finish somewhere between first and third, depending on the margin of victory and the result of the game between the other two teams which have qualified from the group, Real Madrid vs Anadolu Efes.

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