Dimitri Diamantidis, Miroslav Raduljica lead Panathinaikos past Barcelona.

In a battle of  Euroleague giants, Panathinaikos Athens took a critical step towards to the Top 16 by downing FC Barcelona Lassa 93-86 in the Greek capital on Friday. Panathinaikos improved to 4-4 in Group C and broke its nine-game losing streak against already-qualified Barcelona, which dropped to 6-2. Miroslav Raduljica led the winners with a Euroleague career-high 25 points on 8-of-9 two-point shooting and 9-of-9 free throws. Dimitris Diamantidis had a season-high 20 points, James Gist added 10 while Nick Calathes dished 10 assists for Panathinaikos. Alex Abrines led Barcelona with a career-high 21 points. Stratos Perperoglou added 13 while Ante Tomic had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the guests. Raduljica shined early and a layup by Gist gave the Greens a 13-10 lead. Tomic and Abrines stepped up for Barcelona to put the guests ahead, 21-22, after 10 minutes. Raduljica remained unstoppable throughout the second quarter. Panathinaikos kept excelling on defense and a floater by Vladimir Jankovic made it a double-digit game, 45-35, at halftime. A three-pointer by Diamantidis made it a 16-point game, late in the third quarter. An outstanding Perperoglou brought Barcelona as close as 82-78 with two minutes left but a critical three-pointer by James Feldeine and free throws by Raduljica and Gist sealed the outcome down the stretch.

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