Panathinaikos took a narrow victory away to Varese, 85:82, in the Champions League on Monday night. The Greek visitors had been in decent form recently, winning three of their last four games before this trip to Italy. Varese, by contrast, had picked up two wins in their previous five outings and were looking to bounce back against a side that had already shown they could score in bunches.
And here's the thing about this one — the visitors outshot the hosts from deep. Panathinaikos hit 14 three-pointers against 11 for Varese, which made the difference when the game got tight. The away side also moved the ball better, registering 24 assists compared to 22 at home. By then it was clear this wouldn't be decided by raw shooting volume alone.
What stood out was the defensive rebounding battle. Varese grabbed 22 defensive boards to Panathinaikos' 21, but the visitors compensated with 16 steals against just 8 for the hosts. That activity created transition opportunities, and Panathinaikos converted 11 free throws while keeping their turnovers down at 16 compared to 18 for the home team.
Varese had come into this match after beating Trieste 85:84 on Saturday, but before that they'd lost to Murcia 85:58 and drawn with Scavolini 85:77. The inconsistency showed through, particularly in the way they allowed Panathinaikos to shoot 30 field goals while limiting themselves to 25. The home side's eight offensive rebounds weren't enough to keep them in the game.
Panathinaikos, meanwhile, had won in Thessaloniki 91:89 against Iraklis on Saturday and beat Bamberg 93:87 a few days earlier. That momentum carried through to Varese, where they managed to close out a game that could easily have slipped away. The away end never stopped, and it showed in the final statistics — 6 blocks to 1 for the hosts.
