In the third round of the EuroLeague, Fenerbahce defeated Panathinaikos in Istanbul by 83-69, securing their second win of the season.
Panathinaikos played the mentioned game without Ioannis Papapetrou and Dinos Mitoglou, while Fenerbahce was missing Tyler Dorsey.
The “Greens” played only three minutes of serious basketball in the first quarter (6-4), after which Fenerbahce took control. Led by Jonathan Motley, the home team went on a 19-2 run, establishing a 15-point lead (23-8). The Greek giants didn’t perform well in the following minutes, resulting in Istanbul’s team leading 27-9.
Panathinaikos made a comeback in the game, led by the impressive performance of Kyle Guy (36-26), but their hope was short-lived. Georgios Papagiannis capitalized on a weaker moment for the “Greens” in the final minutes of the second quarter, extending Fenerbahce’s lead to 15 points at halftime (43-28).
The question of the winner was essentially settled at the beginning of the third quarter when Dimitris Itoudis‘ team initiated an 11-2 run, extending their lead to an enormous 22 points (54-32). There were moments towards the end of the quarter where we could see some good plays from Mathias Lessort, but even if the lead narrowed, it wasn’t enough. The score was 67-45.
Panathinaikos found their rhythm in the fourth quarter, with Mathias Lessort and Luca Vildoza being the key players. An 11-0 run by the visiting team briefly rekindled some hope, but it was short-lived. Time was not on the side of the visiting team, and they suffered their second loss in the new EuroLeague season.
The top scorer for Fenerbahce was Georgios Papagiannis with 15 points, while Mathias Lessort stood out for Panathinaikos with 19 points.
Fenerbahce now holds a 2-1 record, while Panathinaikos has recorded its second loss. The Turkish team will host Asvel in the next round, while the “Greens” will face Maccabi Tel Aviv.