Led by a brilliant Darius Thompson, Valencia Basket attacked the OAKA, now Telekom Center Athens, this Friday in a match in which, after trailing in the first half, they overwhelmed Panathinaikos in a brilliant second half to add a victory that consolidates them in the play off zone of the Euroleague.
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Pedro MartĂnez's team was able to take advantage of their defensive improvement in the last two quarters with an impeccable display by Thompson, who finished with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists but who also showed superb direction to surprise an opponent who thought they had the game under control with the help of Kam Taylor and Papi Badio.
Valencia started well, focused on defense and already at Thompson's pace in attack. However, the visitors' failures in free shots allowed Panathinaikos to recover and take command with the vertical penetrations of TJ Shorts and Kendrick Nunn (18-11, m.7).
Taylor and Matt Costello to the rescue
Valencia did not stop shooting from distance despite those minutes of lack of aim and with Taylor and Matt Costello they were able to close the gap before the end of the first quarter although the initiative was Greek.
The Athenian defensive aggressiveness short-circuited the circulation of the 'taronja' ball, in addition the locals soberly dominated the rebound in their basket and in attack the appearance of Mitoglou began to make a dent in the visitors' interior defense without finding an antidote.
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Pedro MartĂnez had to use Thompson and Omari Moore to keep the game from getting out of hand and, when the match had stabilized, the young Sergio De Larrea appeared again and read the local defense better. The point guard fed his team, including the brave Papi Badio, who put the visitors ahead with a new triple (32-34, m.16).
When the situation was more complicated for the locals, the temperance of veteran Kostas Sloukas helped Panathiniakos redirect the situation and with a couple of triples reach halftime with a valuable advantage (44-38, m.20).
The Moore-Thompson-Taylor trident
The passage through the locker room clarified Valencia's ideas, and in less than two minutes and again with the Moore-Thompson-Taylor trident at the controls, they signed a 0-9 partial that put them ahead again and led Ergin Ataman to stop the game.
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The Turk's timeout gave the locals calm to restart the engine of their game but the self-confidence of Papi Badio kept Valencia ahead (52-55, m.26). Once again Sloukas came to rescue his people. The veteran point guard moved his team and also scored but was unable to unseat Valencia, who saved the end of the quarter with a triple from Thopmson and another from Taylor at the buzzer (61-65, m.30).
The script did not change at the beginning of the last quarter and another triple by Taylor and a couple of worthy actions by Nate Reuvers raised the visitor's lead to its limit despite Costello's poor aim from afar. A new unforced loss on a throw-in in their own court confirmed the local nerves (65-75, m.33).
Triple and dunk from a brutal Thompson
But Panathinaikos went up the ranks and also stole a couple of balls that hurt Valencia. The points from Nunn and TJ Shorts narrowed the score but Thompson did not let the 'taronja' team fall and with a triple and a stratospheric dunk with an extra he maintained the lead. A three-pointer by Badio sent the hosts to the canvas with less than two minutes remaining (74-85, m.39).
Panathinaikos did not stop looking for a comeback but an unsportsmanlike behavior by Nunn on Taylor stopped them and Valencia knew how to withstand the pressure to add a ninth victory that allows them to equal the balance of the Greek team in the standings.
Technical sheet:
79.- Panathinaikos (22+22+17+18): TJ Shorts (19).
89.- Valencia Basket (19+19+27+24): Moore (9), Thompson (19), Taylor (18), Costello (3), Sako (4) – starting five – Badio (12), Puerto (3), Reuvers (8), Pradilla (5), De Larrea (4) and Sima (4).
Referees: Belosevic (SER), Nedovic (SLO) y Vilius (LTU). Sin eliminated.
Incidences: match corresponding to the fourteenth day of the regular phase of the Euroleague played at the OAKA in Athens in front of around eighteen thousand spectators.
