The Playoffs series between Valencia and Panathinaikos returned to the Telekom Center after the "Greens'" two victories at the Roig Arena, but the Spaniards proved they wouldn't give up so easily.
Pedro Martínez's team reduced the series to 2-1, winning Game 3 with an 87-91 away victory in a game where, despite dominating throughout, they almost lost at the end.
However, the final score brings back memories from the 2024 Playoffs when the clover faced Maccabi Tel Aviv in a series where "history" speaks for itself.
Back then, Panathinaikos had home-court advantage, with Maccabi breaking with a... hello in the first game with a score of, you guessed it, 87-91.
The rest is well-known: Panathinaikos won the second game, lost the third in Israel, and equalized in the fourth, forcing a fifth game at their home court.
The result was their progression to the Final Four in Berlin and the sewing of the 7th star on their jersey, 13 years after they last lifted the trophy.
The majority of players in that 2024 Game against Maccabi are the same as in the current roster, with Mathias Lessort standing out with 22 points and 6 rebounds, and Kostas Sloukas (currently injured) with 12 points, 2 rebounds, and 13 assists.
In Game 3 against Valencia, the protagonists were split between Nikos Rokavopoulos (16 p., 4 r., 4a.), Nigel Hayes-Davis (15 p., 5r., 2a.), and Nunn with 13 points.
Another common denominator between the two games is the large difference in offensive rebounds, which proved detrimental to Panathinaikos in both matches.
Against Maccabi in 2024, they collected 6 offensive rebounds compared to the Israelis' 15, and against Valencia, they had 9 compared to the Spaniards' 14.
It remains to be seen if such detailed similarities can lead to the same happy ending for Ergin Ataman's team.