Panathinaikos hold off Zalgiris to win opener 13
Panathinaikos Athens topped visiting Zalgiris Kaunas 84:76 on Friday at Olympic Sports Center Athens in both team’s Turkish Airlines EuroLeague opener.
The visitors held a slim margin going into the last 10 minutes, however Nikos Pappas hit a pair of three-pointers during a 10:3 run that put Panathinaikos in front for good. Pappas’s steal and a Calathes triple with 2:17 left opened up a 77:68 lead, the biggest of the night, and helped the Greens avoid drama in the final moments. Calathes finished with 13 points and Ioannis Bourousis had 11 points and 6 rebounds for the victors.
Pappas and Bourousis helped the hosts go up 20:15 at the end of first quarter, and Bourousis extended the margin to 7 points at the start of the second. But a three-point play by Motum and a triple by Arturas Milaknis ignited a 0:12 Zalgiris run, which put the visitors in front 22:27 midway through the second. However, Panathinaikos quickly regained the lead with a pair of triples each from Antonis Fotsis and James Feldeine, including Feldeine’s shot that beat the halftime buzzer and gave Panathinaikos a 37:30 halftime advantage.
Led by Lukas Lekavicius, the visitors opened the second half with a 2:11 run and took a 39:41 lead. Zalgiris held its slim led and entered the final quarter up 51:52, but the hosts assumed control again with back-to-back threes from Pappas, before a put-back from Singleton opened a 69:62 cushion with just over five minutes to go.
Zalgiris refused to go away. Milaknis hit a triple to cut the deficit to 2, but Pappas’s steal and a fastbreak dunk followed by a Calathes triple gave the hosts breathing room. Motum got Zalgiris within 78:74 entering the final minute, but the visitors could not get closer than that.
Nikos Pappas led the way with 19 points and Chris Singleton added 13 points and 7 rebounds for the winners.
Brock Motum scored a career-high 19 points for Zalgiris. Paulius Jankunas added 13 points and 8 rebounds, Lukas Lekavicius netted 12 and Arturas Milaknis 11 in defeat.
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