By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos opened its season at home with a win against Zalgiris Kaunas and two men that helped the Greens find glory in years past, Zalgiris‘ head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius and Robertas Javtokas, with 84-76.
Right from the beginning, the game was competitive. For Zalgiris, Antanas Kavaliauskas dominated from inside the paint. The hosts made their intentions to run obvious early on, yet Zalgiris didn’t fall for it. The score was 20-15 after 10 minutes.
During the first minutes of the second quarter, Zalgiris ran a 8-0. The hosts were enable to take advantage of Zalgiris’ turnovers. The Lithuanian team was faster in rebounding, as Lekavicius spread the run to 12 points (22-27). The Greens shortly came back to the game and after a few fruitful shots from the arch, they gained a 34-29 lead. At halftime, the score was 37-30 with a Feldeine buzzer.
After the break, Panathinaikos remained without score for the first 3 minutes of the 3rd period and Ulanovas eventually evened the score at 37-37. Zalgiris got the lead again at 26′. After multiple changes in the course of the game, Zalgiris led 51-52.
Panathinaikos entered the court in a fiery way in the final period, with 2 back to back 3pointers by Pappas (65-62) and soon the Greens were able to impose their own game to the Lithuanian team.
For the winners’ side, Nikos Pappas was decisive with 17 points and 3 assists.