Panathinaikos - Barcellona 78-67

Panathinaikos advanced to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four on Thursday and in the process dethroned Regal FC Barcelona with a 78-67 victory in Game 4 of their Quarterfinal Playoffs series in front of a sea of 19,000 green fans at OAKA in Athens, Greece. Panathinaikos won the best-of-five series 3-1 and reached the Final Four for the 10th time in club history. Barcelona lost a chance to become the ninth team to win back-to-back titles in Euroleague history in its own city, home of the 2011 Final Four. Nick Calathes led the winners with 12 points. Dimitris Diamantidis and Antonis Fotsis each added 11 while Ian Vougioukas and Romain Sato had 10 apiece for Panathinaikos. Fran Vazquez had 14 points to lead Barcelona while Alan Anderson added 13. Barcelona stayed in the game for almost 25 minutes, as a hook shot by Boni Ndong kept the guests within 40-38. Fotsis and Diamantidis shined late in the third quarter to give Panathinaikos a decisive 56-47 margin after 30 minutes. A fast break layup by Diamantidis soon made it a 13-point game, 63-50, an outstanding defense allowed the Green giant to seal a Final Four berth and write a brilliant new page in club history.

Coach Xavi Pascual opted to place team captain Roger Grimau in his team's starting lineup, replacing Juan Carlos Navarro. Calathes got Panathinaikos going with a layup and Sato added a jumper for a 4-0 lead. Barcelona could not find the way to the basket and Calathes took over with a coast-to-coast layup. Anderson rescued the guests with a six-meter jumper and free throws on Diamantidis' second foul. Vougioukas dunked it but a three-pointer by Ricky Rubio got Barcelona within 8-7. Erazem Lorbek shined with an off-balance basket, forcing coach Zeljko Obradovic to bring Mike Batiste into the game. Calathes split free throws but a rainbow jumper by Ndong gave Barcelona its first lead, 10-11. Calathes kept pacing the Greens with a fast break layup, as Drew Nicholas left the game with a sprained ankle. Ndong and Fotsis traded foul shots but Stratos Perperoglou singlehandedly restored a 16-12 Panathinaikos lead after 10 very intense minutes.