Valencia beat Panathinaikos 89-86 in Athens on Friday to level their best-of-five series at 2-2 and force a decisive Game 5 next Tuesday in Valencia.
The visitors led 39-24 three minutes before halftime and were still ahead 46-37 at the break, then had to survive a Panathinaikos push that briefly flipped the game when the hosts moved in front 49-48 in the third quarter. The result meant Valencia became the latest away team to win in a series where all four games so far have gone to the visitors.
That pattern has made the tie look less like a home-court advantage series and more like a road-test marathon. Valencia has now won twice in Athens within 48 hours, and Panathinaikos has twice been left trying to claw back from deficits that looked too large to overcome.
Panathinaikos did not have injured captain Kostas Sloukas available, a loss that mattered when the game reached its final possession. With seven seconds left, the Greek club had one last attack to force overtime, but Nigel Hayes-Davis took a long shot under pressure from the Spanish defense and missed the target.
Game 5 now decides who reaches the Euroleague Final Four in Athens later this month. For Valencia, it is a chance to finish a series built on road victories. For Panathinaikos, it is a home game in Valencia, and after four straight defeats for the hosts in this matchup, that alone has become the story.
