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Rethymno 0-7 away and already thinking about Arkadikos

Panathinaikos do not control their faith regarding the top spot anymore but the situation at the club doesn't allow and kind of holding back or an expected defeat. They signed Haynes from Sassari a few days ago, while Diamantidis won't be on the team again

The defeats in Euroleague and the one in Pireaus shook Panathinaikos' world. The game over Darussafaka was much more than just a race for points. Djordjevic and his team won it, which probably brought about a bit of peace. 

- I'm very happy with how the team reacted. The win would have been easily if there were less mistakes on our part - Djordjevic said. He was without Diamantidis and Charalampopoulos. 

It was a very close game in which Raduljica hit team-high 17 points and 8 rebounds at Panathinaikos. Calathes did a great job organizing the game (14 points and 9 assists). Since Diamantidis was out he spent almost the entire 40 minutes on the floor. This was a true team win since 7 players hit at least 9 points.

Following the defeat at Peareus, Panathinaikos can no longer decide who finished is the top spot. They have to wait for Olympiacos to slip, which is not very likely to happen. That is why the team from Athens could put extra focus on Euroleague in the next few weeks. They have a very important away game in Zagreb next Thursday, but regardless of everything, Panathinaikos should be very motivated today. 

- We have a new challenge lying ahead and we need to be ready to reach our goals. The game from the first half against Panathinaikos was unacceptable - Feldeine said. 

Pananthainikos beat Rethymno easily away in the first part of the season but we have to say that they were 6 points down at half time. But they took their game to the next level in the second half to win by 30 points.

- The opponents were close for a long time in that game and the final score is not realistic. We have to be careful - Feldeine said.

Panathinaikos confirmed Sassari's points guard Haynes will join (13,0p, 3,2 a in Euroleague, 15p and 6,5 a in Eurocup). He will be a good acquisition and might be at coach's disposal today. Diamantidis will be out for sure, but Djordjevic hopes he could recover in time for the Cedevita game. 

Rethymno are 0-7 away and it's expected for the losing run to go on. Still, the team from Krete recorded a good home win over Kolossos last week to keep their hopes of reaching the playoffs up. Rethymno managed to get the game to a faster pace and settled it in the last quarter. 

- This was one of the 6 finals we have until the end of the championship. Those games will decide where we'll go. We need time and we'll be getting better in the future. This was the first time we were complete, which says it all - coach Skortopoulos said.

Rethymno need points from the next championship game and this one will not be so crucial.

- We'll try and get some good lessons from that game, give the newly acquired Deliniakaitis and others more time to be ready for the Arkadioks game - Skortpoulos said and added:

- That of course doesn't mean we won't fight. We'll try and do our best and put up a great game against a good team. 

Rethymno are far from great on the road this season but they prefer faster style and do not lack offensive potential. The margin set at them here is too low. Now that they are complete, I'm sure Rethymno will get better to fight for a spot in the playoffs. Rethymno scored 95 against a good Kolossos defense last round, which was the first game in which they were complete. They have only three unders in 15 games at this margin, one of them being the first h2h against Panathianikos. The home team hit 43 points in the first half back them but did horribly in the second one to get limited to 60. They got limited to 60 to Aris in a very close game. The only failure is the game against Apollon, in which they scored 57 points. I expect Panathinaikos to secure the win early on and allow Rethymno's offensive potential to shine. Their home game against Oly, when they hit 70 points, was similar to that.
Panathianiakos have 10 over at this margin in 15 championship games, 5 of 7 home. They limited Kavala, on of the worst teams in the league, and Airs, who were in a crisis back then, to an under. Panathinaikos took a 30-point lead by half time and let go in the second half to allow 38 points. They had a very tough game with Darussafaka three days ago. That win was very necessary and has exhausted the players. Tehy have an EL visit to Zagreb in three days, which means Djordjevic wil try and rest the key players as much as possible. Panathinaikos played a few home games on Mondays this season and always allowed over this margin (PAOK 69, Kifisia 67, Trikala 64). Rethymno are no worse than those teams. Given the circumstances, I expect the home team to hit at least 65-70 points, just like last season when they hit 70 and 77 in h2h games.