Nigel Hayes-Davis was devastating for Valencia Basket, sealing their fate in the last second of overtime (105-107), at the end of a game that was at times tense (ended with a brawl), at times thrilling, at times beautiful. Panathinaikos seemed to be saving themselves for the final stretch of the EuroLeague. After losing both regular season games against Valencia Basket, the Greek team led by the acclaimed Ergin Ataman imposed their will at the start of the quarterfinal series and took both wins at Roig Arena, where very few had succeeded this season. The second defeat for Pedro Martínez’s team forces them to perform a feat: win the next two games at OAKA. In the other two games of the day, Olympiacos again defeated Monaco (94-64) and now leads 2-0, as does Fenerbahçe against Zalgiris Kaunas (86-74).
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WHAT JUST HAPPENED IN VALENCIA 🤯 @NIGEL_HAYES WINS IT AT THE BUZZER pic.twitter.com/LSHqT6ZLaW
— EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) April 30, 2026
The start came with an unexpected gift: two fouls on Nunn, their top scorer, in 65 seconds. It seemed the night was turning in favor of Valencia, who came in more focused than on Tuesday (11-4). Panathinaikos took a little time to synchronize their defense but once they did, with Montero sitting to catch his breath, Valencia suffered again (15-19) with some good minutes from Osman and Lessort once again expanding under the hoops. Valencia needed to run and achieved it with the legs of Sergio de Larrea. Larry has the gift of igniting Roig Arena with his electric plays.
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The offensive rebound count began to rise almost as fast as De Larrea’s feet, well supported by Matt Costello. The temperature rose sharply because the exchange of baskets was fierce. Another day of caviar basketball at Roig Arena. Points and more points at a hellish pace. Jean Montero, the offensive leader of the orange squad, sat a defender on the floor and drew a 3+1. The crowd growled. Welcome to Valencia Basket territory. Young Sergio de Larrea smiled, unseen the first day and happy this time to feel important, 20 years of talent and instinct, a thorn in Ergin Ataman’s side. The player from Valladolid also drew Nunn’s third foul. (46-41). But Ataman had already seen this movie and immediately his team closed their hoop and toughened the game to regain control with the help of an accurate Hayes-Davis (48-49).
Badio, whose duel with Nunn was sparking, was able to defend him successfully and then lead the orange attack, which rose again with Larry’s return. Panathinaikos began to truly suffer (71-65) against an opponent who did not take more advantage due to their free throw misses. If Nunn decided the first game on the last attack, he could not seal the second, which went to overtime (95-95), where Hayes-Davis did resolve it with a basket in the last tenth.
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EuroLeague quarterfinal results.
