The series between Valencia and Panathinaikos in the EuroLeague playoffs has a chance to go down as the best in the competition's history. An average winning margin of one point per game, unbelievable performances, and two unexpected scenarios going into game five.

Before the series started, hardly anyone forecast drama. Panathinaikos with the most expensive roster in the EuroLeague against a Valencia side that barely scraped into the playoffs. On paper - a classic. On the floor - 352-348 cumulative in favour of the Spaniards after four games, with the "least competitive" duel in Athens ending 91-87. In EuroLeague stats language that means one thing - this is not a series anymore, it is a documentary unfolding in front of us.

Scenario one: Valencia can become only the second team in EuroLeague history to come back from 0-2. The first was Real Madrid, in the legendary series against Partizan in 2023. Braxton Key, the Spaniards' wing, admitted he had been googling the series. "I saw that Game 2 also ended in a beating, just like ours. I hope history repeats itself," he said after winning game four.

Scenario two: if Panathinaikos win game five in Athens, they will be the first team in EuroLeague history with road wins in every game of a playoff series. Partizan-Real in 2023 came close, but the home side won game five.

And in the middle of all of this stands Jean Montero - the 22-year-old Valencia point guard who has gone from rookie to the series' main attraction. Averages: 20.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 27.5 PIR. In game four he posted 29 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals, with a 45 PIR - the most efficient performance in EuroLeague playoff history since the format was introduced in 2004-05.

How it plays out next, nobody knows. Both teams come into it with sharp elbows - game five is in Athens, in the Olympic, with a crowd that shows no mercy to visitors. The Balkan audience is watching a Balkan basketball temperament - neither side wants to give in. History is waiting to be written, and no one wants to end up on the wrong side of the keyboard.