Fourteen years later, Zeljko Obradovic officially returned to the Panathinaikos sideline and the OAKA responded. The Greek team dominated Paris Basketball 91-72 in the EuroLeague opener, with nine of their ten players used scoring and defense as the main weapon.
A first quarter of 31 points
The game was decided in the opening ten minutes. Panathinaikos scored 31 points and went up fourteen (31-17), with Lefteris Mantzoukas as an unexpected star: the Greek small forward started and scored 8 of his team's first 13 points, shooting 1 of 1 from two-point range and 2 of 2 from three-point range.
But what sustained that lead was the work on the defensive end. In that first quarter the team recorded three steals and two blocks, plus clear rebounding dominance.
The defensive focus had a name: Nadir Hifi went scoreless after 5:19 on the court, defended successively by Giorgos Kalaitzakis and Brancou Badio. At halftime he had accumulated only 4 points on 1 of 7 shooting.
The only French warning
The second quarter saw a drop in offensive intensity. With Sylvain Francisco leading the scoring—10 points in that period—Panathinaikos watched as Paris went on an 8-0 run that cut the lead from 42-23 to 42-31.
It was the only moment of doubt. The third quarter started with a 6-0 Greek run for 48-31 and from there the game was never in question.
Yabusele's quarter
In that third period Guershon Yabusele emerged, scoring 10 of his 13 points and confirming that the team has a second offensive option beyond Francisco.
Paris still tried with an 8-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter that left them down seventeen and forced Obradovic to call a timeout with 1:41 remaining in the period.
The Greek offense became irregular in that stretch and the French found some three-pointers to get within fourteen, but two consecutive steals by Mathias Lessort, capped off with dunks, pushed the lead back above twenty (81-60) and sealed the game.
The numbers
Francisco was the leading scorer with 18 points. Lessort added 15, Yabusele 13, Kostas Mitoglou 11, and Mantzoukas 10.
The stat that best sums up the night is that nine of the ten players used scored, on a team that also arrived without Kendrick Nunn, Kostas Sloukas, Nigel Hayes-Davis, and Moustapha Fall.