Panathinakos Athens grabbed its third consecutive home win in the EuroLeague Regular Season by topping Fenerbahce 81-70 in the Greek capital on Friday. Panathinaikos improved to 7-5, while Fenerbahce dropped to 8-4 and is three wins behind regular season leader CSKA Moscow. Panathinaikos fans gave Zeljko Obradovic a warm welcome - Obradovic coached Panathinaikos for 13 years and led the club to five of the club's six EuroLeague titles. Nick Calathes flirted with a triple-double in collecting 16 points, 8 rebounds, 11 assists and 5 steals to pace the winners. Demetris Nichols added 14 points before fouling out and K.C. Rivers and James Feldeine had 10 each for Panathinaikos. James Nunnally led Fenerbahce with 21 points. Kostas Sloukas added 13 while Ekpe Udoh got 10 and 8 rebounds for the guests. Despite being outrebounded 28-37, the Greens limited Fenerbahce to low shooting percentages - 45.7% inside the arc, 35.3% from downtown – to win the game. Panathinaikos also committed just 3 turnovers to Fenerbahce's 12.
A dunk by Chris Singleton and a reverse layup by Calathes gave Panathinaikos an early 4-0 lead. Luigi Datome and Jan Vesely stepped up for Fenerbahce, but a three-pointer by Calathes restored a 9-5 Panathinaikos lead. A dunk by Vesely and a triple by Sloukas gave Fenerbahce its first lead, 9-10. Kenny Gabriel and Singleton each dunked in a 10-1 run, which Calathes capped with a layup for a 19-11 score. A layup by Gabriel and free throws by Singleton boosted the hosts' lead to 23-14 after 10 minutes. Nunnally hit back-to-back jumpers early in the second quarter, but Rivers singlehandedly made it a double-digit game, 28-18. Another triple by an unstoppable Rivers caused Fenerbahce to stop the game at 33-18. Udoh found his first points and Datome and Nunnally struck from downtown before a layup by Nikola Kalinic brought Fenerbahce within 39-34. A buzzer-beating jumper by Nunnally made it 41-37, at halftime. Panathinaikos found a new go-to guy in Nichols, who buried back-to-back jumpers and added a triple that helped his team restore a 51-41 lead. A dunk-and-one by Kalinic gave Fenerbahce hope at 51-46, but Feldeine, Calathes and an unstoppable Nichols allowed Panathinaikos to stay way ahead, 61-52, after 30 minutes. Ioannis Bourousis followed a three-pointer with his trademark jump hook early in the fourth quarter for a 66-52 Panathinaikos advantage. Sloukas and Nunnally tried to change things for Fenerbahce, but back-to-back layups by Calathes caused the visitors to call timeout at 71-57 with more than six minutes left. Fenerbahce did not give up, however, and free throws by Udoh brought the guests within 75-68 with two minutes to go. A three-pointer by Feldeine sealed the outcome, 78-68, as Fenerbahce did not recover.
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