TJ Shorts had an excellent performance (21 points), home advantage once again played its part, and so Panathinaikos won the Play In against Monaco (87-79), securing their ticket to the Playoffs where they will face Valencia.
The "Greens" have a tough task ahead against a team that plays beautiful basketball, finished second, and has the Euroleague Coach of the Season, Martinez, on their bench.
In fact, the Spanish team has managed to defeat Ataman's team twice this year. In Spain, Valencia won by 102-84, while at the Telekom Center Athens they won by 89-79.
Even so, if the Greens look at the recent past, they have reason to be optimistic.
Because they have done it before, eliminating in the Playoffs a team that beat them twice in the regular season in the same season.
The example of Maccabi in the season they celebrated their 7th title
In the 2023-24 season, the Greens were called to face Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Euroleague Playoffs with home advantage.
Although they had lost both regular season games, in the Playoffs they reacted, took revenge, and advanced with a 3-2 victory in the decisive Game 5 at OAKA.
At the end of the road, they defeated Real Madrid in the final with a legendary Kostas Sloukas and celebrated their 7th Euroleague title.
Away from home in the regular season, they had succumbed 90-75 to Maccabi, while in Athens they lost 86-81.
In the Playoffs, however, the scenario was different, and although they struggled a lot, they eventually qualified.
The Israelis broke in the first game, the Greens responded, but Maccabi made it 2-1.
Panathinaikos found the break in Game 4, which was a do-or-die game for them, and the series returned to Telekom Center Athens for Game 5.
There, Ataman's team appeared serious and prevailed with an 81-72 victory. Nunn was unstoppable with 25 points, while Sloukas and Papapetrou were crucial with 15 and 10 points respectively.
They went to the Final Four, subjugated Fenerbahçe and Real to sew on their 7th star!