A shot from Kendrick Nunn with 2.1 seconds left in Game 1 gave Panathinaikos a great victory in Valencia with a score of 67-68, breaking their home-court advantage.
Ergin Ataman, in the press conference, spoke about how the "Shamrock" led to victory and how they plan to approach the rest of the series.
In detail:
"I think we managed to control Valencia's fast-paced game. We started the match with good, aggressive defense, and in the first quarter, we controlled the defensive rebound. We had confidence, we followed our system. In the first half, we played well offensively. In the second half, we played in the same way, but offensively, we didn't play well. We made many mistakes and gave away easy baskets without defensive balance. They found a way to get back into the game.
We made the most of the last possession. During the timeout, we said Nunn should take the ball in the last 6-7 seconds, and he capitalized on it. We got the victory. It's only 1-0. The Final-Four games are like finals. We have a small advantage, and now we will focus on the next game."
Regarding the decisive first quarter: "The difference from the game we played two weeks ago is that tonight they didn't find fast-break points and transition points. I think we controlled the game throughout. We perhaps lost the third and fourth quarters, but we lost due to the easy mistakes we made. I believe we deserved to win tonight."