Zalgiris blows 15-point halftime lead against Panathinaikos in Athens 20

Zalgiris Kaunas experienced a night to forget in EuroLeague Round 21 game, when they lost 65-89 to Panathinaikos Athens at OAKA.

The guests led by 15 points at halftime but got cold after the break and were outscored by the opponents 23-62 in the second half. With this win, Panathinaikos improved to 8-13, while Zalgiris saw a 4-game winning streak come to its end and slipped to 12-9.

Paris Lee led all scorers with a career-high 24 points, getting 17 of them in the third quarter. Mateusz Ponitka and Dwayne Bacon followed with 13 points apiece and Georgios Papagiannis posted 12 points and 5 rebounds for the winners.

Rolands Smits was the only Zalgiris player in double figures, as he poured in 11, plus 5 boards, in defeat.

Zalgiris started strong, collapsing the hosts’ offense and displaying terrific shooting accuracy. The visitors converted all 5 of their first attempts for a 10-0 run that gave them a 14-4 lead. Even though Panathinaikos reacted after a timeout, going for a 9-0 charge that made it a one-possession game midway through the first period, Zalgiris used rotations to breathe again and led 24-19 after 10 minutes.

Things went even worse for Pao in the second quarter as Zalgiris took control of the boards and exploited Panathinaikos’ turnovers to increase the difference little by little. A 5-0 opening run returned a double-digit lead to the visitors and it grew little by little to reach a game-high 15 points margin at halftime, 42-27.

Panathinaikos transformed in the locker room and warned its opponent about what was coming early in the third quarter. A 5-0 run was stopped by Zalgiris coach Kazys Maksvytis less than 2 minutes after the game resumed. Lee emerged as a dominant force on both ends, firing up the Pao in defense and offense. He scored 17 points in the third quarter on 4-of-4 shooting from behind the arc, leading the way for others like Ponitka, Bacon and Georgios Kalaitzakis. A three by Lee completed the comeback, 54-52, and a fastbreak bucket by Ponitka closed the third quarter with a 64-58 advantage for the home side.

The punishment continued in the final quarter, when Panathinaikos opened with a 10-0 run that turned into 18-2 to make it a 20-point game, 82-60, with still 5 minutes remaining. Pao were unstoppable all over the way, playing defense, stealing the ball, making fastbreaks and finding Papagiannis inside against a stunned opponent that waived the white flag long before the final whistle.