Too much Tavares for so little Panathinaikos

Madrid closed a treacherous day, the first double of the Euroleague, with an undeniable victory, one of those with a broken match score (88-65), although Panathinaikos still had a pulse nine minutes from the horn (62-52). It equalizes in third place, behind the undefeated Barça and Armani. The Whites stacked 56 points in just two quarters, the first and the last, where they stood out the most in attack. Tavares was again a deciding factor (17 + 9 for a PIR of 31) across the field. He was seconded by Abalde, Yabusele and Poirier, the block. The defense left the opponent at a poor 30% on shots of two and also grabbed 42 rebounds and handed out 21 assists. The final shake does not hide the previous ups and downs, portrayed in the 15 losses.

When there is an accumulation of matches, and this was Madrid’s fourth of the five that it will chain in ten days, strange things happen becomes less strange. Hence the ups and downs, the successes and the mistakes, the losses, in short, the lack of concentration. Panathinaikos spent more than six minutes without scoring at the start of the second quarter (35-18) and was still able to hold the gap, the same at the end of the first quarter, Llull mandarin included after the race and the assistance of a recovered Hanga (30-18), than at rest (42-30).

As on Wednesday against AS Monaco, the white studs exit was plentiful, with Yabusele, as always, with Tavares dominating in the heights, and with Abalde, starting this time. Unleashed from the start in the face-to-face with Papapetrou, so much so that Dimitris Priftis sat down his star after three minutes. The Galician forward had 5 goals and would finish the fourth with 12: triples, stops in a half, feints … all with his usual class. Presence he has, he is hunting for consistency. “I need everyone, every day,” Laso often repeats.

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In the Greek anxiety, while Papapetrou was present in body and absent in spirit (and what to say about Nedovic), we saw something of the short Daryl Macon and the giant Papagiannis, in the fight under the ring and accurate from the personal. During the PAO blackout, Poirier and Tavares, the two towers, coincided on the track due to the configuration of the Greek inside game, with little outside threat from Evans and Floyd and then Papagiannis.

Beyond the initial gale, Madrid was able to break the duel several times. But legs, hands and mind were not in sync, gusty play, too many stray balls that forced pauses in the rhythm, and oscillating percentages from long distance. The last time the PAO threatened to get up, after having been successively punished by Tavares, Yabusele and Causeur, was at the beginning of the last act. However, a triple from Llull, a 2 + 1 from Poirier and another two rounds of three from Rudy ended the game: 74-57. And the rain did not stop raining on a rival in the open: 88-61. The double day ends with a double victory (full ACB with Barça and Baskonia), but the tour continues this Sunday, now in Lugo and in the League.

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