Panathinaikos grabs first home win against Monaco in night of records / News - Basketnews.com

Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens grabbed its third consecutive win by downing AS Monaco decisively, marking the first time that the Greens beat the Monagesque team in Athens.

Credit: Vangelis Stolis Credit Vangelis Stolis

Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens (13-8) continued its good form by blowing out AS Monaco (11-10) with a score of 88-63 (27-12, 16-18, 21-14, 24-19).

Player of the Game EFF 42 Mathias Lessort Points 23 Accuracy 9-10 Rebounds 9 Assists 5

This was PAO's biggest win in the EuroLeague since the Greek team blew out Anadolu Efes Istanbul in the 2021-22 season with a score of 95-69 in the OAKA.

The Greens dominated the game since the tip-off, landing an early blow to the Monagesque team by building up a first-quarter deficit of 15 points.

The Greeks were only outscored in the second quarter and enjoyed a comfortable lead throughout the game.

Particularly, in the first quarter, the lead ballooned after an 11-0 run by Panathinaikos, which was orchestrated thanks to a combined effort from Kendrick Nunn, Konstantinos Mitoglou, and Marius Grigonis between 5 minutes and 58 seconds remaining and 4 minutes and 3 seconds remaining.

The win was significant in many ways. Primarily, it was the first time that Panathinaikos defeated Monaco in Athens, and it came thanks to a monster, record-breaking performance by Mathias Lessort.

Lessort had 23 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 2 turnovers for a combined total of 42 PIR. He broke his assists record (4 previously with Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade) and his PIR record (37 previously with Panathinaikos). The French center also tied his former highest-scoring performance (with Panathinaikos).

Another important note from the game was that Mike James could not score in the first half and had one of his worst offensive games this season, being held down to 11 points on an abysmal 2/12 from two-point territory. James had 5 assists but 6 turnovers.

The weak performance from James can be confidently attributed to a strong defensive performance by Jerian Grant, who had a minimal offensive effect with just 8 points on 3/8 field goal shooting.

For Monaco, only Donatas Motiejunas was left standing. The Lithuanian center had 13 points on 5/6 two-point shooting, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals in 19 minutes and 50 seconds.

With the win, Panathinaikos improved its record to 13-8 and strengthened its play-off claim. They currently share the fourth and fifth spots with Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, which also has the same record after downing FC Bayern Munich in overtime today.

Panathinaikos Mathias Lessort 23 (9 REB, 5 AST, 42 PIR), Kendrick Nunn 21 (4 REB), Konstantinos Mitoglou 12 (3 REB)

Monaco Donatas Motiejunas 13 (5/6 2FG, 3 REB, 2 STL), Mike James 11 (4/15 FG, 5 TO), Matthew Strazel 11 (2 AST)

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