Panathinaikos Cruising at Home and Abroad
Greek club Panathinaikos Athens is one of Europe’s hottest teams at the moment. The powerhouse recently downed Turkish Airlines EuroLeague defending champions Fenerbahce Ulker 70-68, over the weekend. They also secured the solo lead in the domestic Greek A1 League yesterday after securing an impressive 96-64 blowout win over AS Promitheas Patras.
James Gist (photo above), Nick Calathes, and Nikos Pappas have been awesome over the last few days. They have been at the forefront of the team’s recent success. Pappas led the charge against Fenerbahce, while Gist dominated Promitheas in Athens. Calathes has been the glue holding everything together with his excellent playmaking for the team.
Panathinaikos vs. Promitheas, 96-64
Both teams were at 3-0 before this game. Panathinaikos’ win secured for them the solo lead in the Greek A1. Panathinaikos kept control of the game for the majority of its duration. James Gist stayed aggressive, attacking the basket with every opportunity that presented itself. Promitheas could do little to slow him down and ended up sending him to the free throw line as a result. Gist finished with a game-high 19 points. The fact that they were able to run all over one of the league’s top teams speaks volumes as to their readiness to keep being a dominant force at home and in international competition.
Nick Calathes dropped an impressive 14-point, 10-assist double-double for the night. He had a full stat line with a trey, three steals and a block to his name.
Special mention and credit goes to Panathinaikos’ bench as it supplied a steady stream of offense to keep their lead secured and intact.
Milan Milosevic paced Promitheas with 19 points and seven boards of his own. The loss drops Promitheas (3-1) down to fourth place.
This was the last and most important game of Round 4, here are the rest of the result from the Greek A1:
Aris vs. Olympiacos, 55-80
Kymis vs. Gymnastikos Larissa Faros, 70-71
Kolossos HH vs. AEK Athens, 82-78
Koroivos vs. Panionios, 68-67
Cretan Kings vs. Lavrio, 73-95
Aries Trikalla vs. PAOK Thessaloniki, 87-78