Valencia Basket won this Friday by a narrow 86-89 on their visit to Panathinaikos AKTOR during the fourth game of their quarterfinal series in the 2025-26 Euroleague, thus tying the overall score for the Valencians (2-2), thanks to another tachycardia outcome that has made the Valencians smile for their mettle in the decisive moments.
At the Telekom Center in Athens, Jean Montero was the almost absolute protagonist with 10 points and two assists in less than seven minutes on the court, launching a 10-20 run that Panathinaikos could only mitigate thanks to Mathias Lessort in the low post. The atmosphere at OAKA was deafening again, but Valencia was in charge from the beginning.
Charging the rebound, especially the offensive one, and running as much as they have done this season, Pedro Martínez’s students closed the first period with a 15-26 lead. And the rhythm continued the same at the beginning of the next act, with the ‘taronjas’ leaving (17-31, 22-34) until Vassilis Toliopoulos, a usual supporting actor, entered the scene.
Ergin Ataman does not usually have it in his plans, but the gray version of other men in his squad forced the Panathinaikos coach to change plans. Despite this, Kendrick Nunn contributed little in defense due to being slow and Jerian Grant barely added in attack. And Valencia took advantage of all that to put it +15 (24-39) after a triple by Nate Reuvers.
While on the Valencian side Brancou Badio and Kameron Taylor appeared from their closet, in the Athenian team there was a lack of people to take on the stripes. Juancho Hernangómez tried, but committed his fourth personal foul after having only been on the court for 7:20, so Cedi Osman then emerged as the home team’s offensive beacon.
They held on to him, who achieved two 2+1 actions, to not let up before the break (37-44). Upon returning from the locker room, Panathinaikos increased their defensive pressure and the referee’s permissibility did not help the ‘taronjas’ either. Osman shone more, being versatile in his baskets, and Nunn also hit two triples that turned the score around (49-48).
Braxton Key answered among the ‘taronjas’, since Montero rested a little while Sergio de Larrea took his place on the floor. But in general the game had stagnated in scoring, until respective triples by Darius Thompson and Montero, now back in the quintet, made it 53-58 at just 44.9 to end the tense third period.
With Nunn also responding from the perimeter, Valencia ran out the 30th minute on the buzzer thanks to a tap-in by Montero after a rebound and a foreshortened shot by Badio. The fourth quarter started at 56-60 and, although Jaime Pradilla achieved a lucky triple by hitting the ball at the base of the rim before going in, it was the ‘PAO’ who showed better aim.
The Greeks tied with a kill from Lessort (65-65) and later with a robbery and counterattack from Osman (67-67). At 5:48 before the final horn, Thompson nailed a triple that gave Valencia air because, to make matters worse, Hernangómez missed another shot from a corner and then Taylor extended the juicy visitor advantage (67-72) with two free throws.
Nigel Hayes-Davis was terrible and Grant lost his senses, so taking advantage of the televised time out was key for the ‘PAO’. Two bad actions by Neal Sako, eliminated for fouls, were made up for by teammates like Matt Costello for his struggle in defense and Badio for his emergence in attack. Not in vain, Badio established the 69-76 with 3:59 remaining.
To make matters worse for the greens, Montero on the counterattack after a robbery extended Valencia’s good streak. The clock was ticking and Nunn was the easy resource alongside Osman, although the ‘taronjas’ were somewhat more coral and Key captured it with a basket on the backboard (75-82). Minute and a half to settle the duel and Ataman brought shooters off the bench looking for a comeback.
Of course, the plan was regular because no one had been reliable up to that point, which was noticeable with errors in difficult launches. Valencia excelled in that context of tension with a dunk from Key, a block from Taylor and a layup from Montero, but the icing on the cake was missing and Taylor decided wrong twice in a row, including a personal foul against Hayes-Davis in a 2+1.
The swings were constant and Hayes-Davis made it 83-86, to which Valencia responded with skillful ball handling. Montero received a foul, converted his two free throws because the ‘PAO’ was in bonus and 19.6 on the stopwatch still gave hope to the locals. In a timeout they came together, their play to shoot for three, but Nunn and Hayes-Davis missed.
His good work on the offensive rebound gave another opportunity to Osman, who did get it right (86-88) and left the rival team 7.8 for their next possession. Costello was fouled, made his first free throw and missed his second; Nikos Rogkavopoulos caught that rebound and passed to Hayes-Davis, who almost from the center of the court did not sink his triple out of desperation.
On this occasion, the end was a heart attack for Pedro Martínez’s pupils, who forced the fifth and decisive game of the playoff again at the Roig Arena in the capital of Turia. Next week, in the heat of their fans, Valencia will try to make a comeback for the overall series count and get into their long-awaited Final Four.
TECHNICAL SHEET.
–RESULT: PANATHINAIKOS, 86 – VALENCIA BASKET, 89 (37-44, at halftime).
–TEAMS.
PANATHINAIKOS: Grant (4), Nunn (19), Hayes-Davis (12), Osman (26) and Lessort (8) –starting quintet–; Shorts (3), Rogkavopoulos (-), Faried (-), Hernangómez (7), Toliopoulos (7) and Mitoglou (-).
VALENCIA BASKET: Montero (29), Badio (6), Taylor (11), Costello (1) and Sako (2) –starting quintet–; Reuvers (7), Key (12), Thompson (8), Pradilla (10), De Larrea (1) and Moore (2).
–PARTIALS: 15-26, 22-18, 19-16 and 30-29.
–REFEREES: Radovic, Difallah and Petek. They eliminated Hernangómez at Panathinaikos and Sako at Valencia Basket due to personal fouls.
–PAVILLION: Telekom Center Athens, 19,031 spectators.