The Take

Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens is facing plenty of pressure when it hosts Fenerbahce Istanbul in Game 2 of their highly-anticipated playoff series on Thursday. In a game of runs just 48 hours earlier, Fenerbahce used a huge second half and a career-night by Bogdan Bogdanovic to get a much wanted 58-71 road win in Game 1. Panathinaikos led by 16 points early in the third quarter, but Fenerbahce went on a huge 8-40 charge as it assumed control of the game in the fourth quarter and cruised to victory.

Bogdanovic collected 23 points on 5-of-6 three-point shooting, plus 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and career-highs of 3 blocks and a performance index rating 35. Nikola Kalinic stepped up with 16 points and Bobby Dixon netted 13 in victory, while K.C. Rivers with 16 points, and Mike James with 14 paced Panathinaikos. The win also marked the first time, in five attempts, that eight-time EuroLeague winning coach Zeljko Obradovic beat his former team in Athens.

On Thursday, Fenerbahce will try to continue its streak of seven consecutive playoff victories, a EuroLeague record, as it had swept its playoff series in the past two seasons. Each of the three games between these teams this season finished by a double-digit margin, with Panathinaikos beating Fenerbahce 81-70 in Round 12 of the regular season in Athens, while Fenerbahce scored an 84-63 win in their Round 18 encounter.

Game 1 showcased how the teams’ respective defenses are the biggest strengths of these two squads, as both ranked among the top four in the competition this season, with Fenerbahce allowing 74.3, and Panathinaikos 74.4 per contest.
The Greens certainly hope to get bigger offensive contribution from Chris Singleton who finished with 3 points, 5 rebounds and zero steals in Game 1, all below his averages of 12.3 points and a team-leading 6 rebounds and 1.3 steals.