2019-20Regular SeasonRound 4
Zenit St Petersburg 79
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 89
October 24, 2019 CET: 19:00
Local time: 20:00 SIBUR ARENA

Panathinaikos holds off Zenit on the road

Panathinaikos OPAP Athens registered its first road win of the season by holding off Zenit St Petersburg 79-89 on Thursday night. Panathinaikos improved to a 2-2 record on the season, while Zenit dropped to 1-3. The Greens led for much of the night, by as much as 49-63 in the third quarter, behind Nick Calathes and Jimmer Fredette. Mateusz Ponitka led Zenit's charge, and the hosts got to within 76-79, but Panathinaikos held on. Fredette finished with 22 points and DeShuan Thomas scored 17 more for the winners. Jacob Wiley added 14 points while Calathes had 8 points and dished 15 assists. Ponitka collected 16 points and 6 rebounds for Zenit. Andrew Albicy netted 15 points, Gustavo Ayon and Will Thomas had 12 apiece, and Colton Iverson scored 10 in defeat.

The hosts were firing often from downtown in the early going, with three-pointers from Albicy and Vladislav Trushkin giving Zenit an early advantage. Another triple from Albicy made it 14-10, but DeShaun Thomas had a triple to start his personal run of 10 consecutive points that let the visitors finish the first quarter with a 20-22 lead. Gustavo Ayon and Konstantinos Mitoglou exchange close-range baskets in the second quarter before DeShaun Thomas extend the Panathinaikos lead to 28-34 with a fastbreak layup. However, Albicy hit back-to-back triples to erase the deficit before the Greens went into halftime holding a 38-40 advantage. At the start of the third quarter, Panathinaikos caught fire from long range, with Fredette sinking a pair of threes, and Ioannis Papapetrou and DeShaun Thomas hitting one apiece, to extend the margin to 47-57. A pair of runners from Fredette pushed the lead to 14 points, but Ponitka strung together 6 points for Zenit, and together with Colton Iverson fueled the hosts' 11-2 run to draw within 60-65 going into the fourth quarter. Wiley and Calathes gave the visitors breathing space before a three-pointer from Tyrese Rice opened a 64-73 advantage. Ayon scored inside and Will Thomas hit from the outside to cut into deficit before a corner triple from Trushkin made it 76-79. Papapetrou had a pair of key offensive boards, and Fredette hit a short jumper as Panathinaikos kept the lead to close out the game.

A successful first

This was the first-ever meeting between these sides, as Panathinaikos visited St. Petersburg for the first time. It is also the second consecutive win for the Greens on Russian soil, after downing CSKA in Moscow last season.

Calathes back to dishing

Nick Calathes, the EuroLeague single-season record holder in assists, had a total of 19 through the first three rounds, but then dished 15 assists against Zenit. It is the most assists by a player this season, and the third-most for Calathes in his career. Panathinaikos entered Round 4 averaging 13.0 assists per game, and finished this game with 27.

Key three-point burst

Panathinaikos hit just 1 of 7 triples in the first half, then went 4-for-4 in the first 5 minutes of the third quarter to open a 10-point lead. Panathinaikos shot 1-for-6 from downtown the rest of the game, but that three-point burst gave the visitors a lead they never relinquished.

Next up

In Round 5's opener on Tuesday, Panathinaikos goes back to Russia to face Khimki Moscow Region, while a day later Zenit travels to face Zalgiris Kaunas.

Deshaun Thomas - Panathinaikos OPAP Athens - EB19
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: RYZHYK, BORYS; MANTYLA, PETRI; PANTHER, ANNE
Attendance: 3817
By Quarter1234
Zenit St Petersburg20182219
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens22182524
End of Quarter1234
Zenit St Petersburg20386079
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens22406589
Zenit St Petersburg
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 IVERSON, COLTON 16:51 10 3/3   4/5 1 4 5 1   1 1   2 3 16
6 ALBICY, ANDREW 23:11 15 1/1 4/8 1/2   2 2 5 3 1     1 5 23
7 PONKRASHOV, ANTON 8:31     0/3     1 1     1         -3
9 HOLLINS, AUSTIN 16:51   0/1 0/4   2 1 3 2   3 1 1     -3
10 THOMAS, WILL 27:27 12 3/6 2/4   1 5 6 1       2     12
12 RENFROE, ALEX 15:41 2 1/2   0/2   1 1 4   5     4 1 -4
13 KHVOSTOV, DMITRY 9:26   0/1 0/2         2   1     2 1 -3
14 PUSHKOV, ANTON 2:34 2 1/2                     1    
16 TRUSHKIN, VLADISLAV 22:07 6 0/1 2/5         2         1   3
21 ABROMAITIS, TIM 12:33 4 2/3 0/1   2 3 5 1       1 2   5
25 PONITKA, MATEUSZ 24:13 16 4/6 1/3 5/7 5 2 7   2 1 1   2 5 22
34 AYON, GUSTAVO 20:35 12 5/9   2/4 4 2 6 2 2 1     3 4 16
Team           1 1 2     1         1
Totals 200:00 79 20/35 9/30 12/20 16 22 38 20 7 15 3 4 18 19 85
        57.1% 30% 60%
Head coach: PLAZA, JOAN
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 THOMAS, DESHAUN 31:14 17 5/8 2/3 1/1       1 2 2     1 1 14
5 RICE, TYRESE 15:52 3 0/2 1/1     1 1 3 1 1     1 1 5
6 PAPAGIANNIS, GEORGIOS 3:18   0/1                 1        
10 PAPAPETROU, IOANNIS 24:11 9 3/6 1/1 0/2 3 8 11 1 1       3 1 15
15 VOUGIOUKAS, IAN 21:06 6 2/4 0/1 2/2   2 2 1 1 1 3 1 3 6 11
24 JOHNSON, WESLEY 12:26     0/1     1 1 2         1   1
25 BROWN, RION 0:08                              
32 FREDETTE, JIMMER 21:08 22 5/6 2/8 6/6   2 2 4   2   1 4 4 18
33 CALATHES, NICK 36:16 8 4/6 0/1     5 5 15 3 2   1 3 2 24
35 WILEY, JACOB 15:36 14 6/9   2/3 1 2 3   1       2 2 14
44 MITOGLOU, KONSTANTINOS 8:46 8 3/4   2/2   1 1           1 1 8
50 BENTIL, BEN 9:59 2 1/1 0/1   1 1 2   2           5
Team           2 1 3     1         2
Totals 200:00 89 29/47 6/17 13/16 7 24 31 27 11 9 4 3 19 18 117
        61.7% 35.3% 81.3%
Head coach: PEDOULAKIS, ARGYRIS

Head Coaches

PLAZA, JOAN
Zenit St Petersburg
"Like I said to the players in the locker room, I'm proud of them. We fought until the end, and even though we didn't win, we did fight. We came to the last quarter with chances to win, and it's amazing. Like I always say, for a team like us to play against Panathinaikos and to have chances until the end… I'm just proud. Speaking about the game, we didn't force them in the moments when we could have. I can't blame my players – because they played good – but if we want to win this kind of game, we need to learn how to play these games."
PEDOULAKIS, ARGYRIS
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens

"With the exception of first 3 minutes of the game, I think we played good today. Zenit is a well-coached team, and if you let them play their basketball, they'll kill you for sure. We tried to change their tempo and make them play our tempo. We moved the ball pretty well; you can see it in the stats, too. Our guards were changing every five or six minutes. I want to highlight the role of Papapetrou and Voigoukas; I think they played the crucial role today."

"I care that we won the game. They made a comeback, but what's important is that we won in the end. The key factor was that we had 27 assists to 9 turnovers, it is a 3-to-1 ratio. They are a very good team, very well-coached and trained, especially in man-to-man defense. We moved the ball well and made good decisions on offense. We needed this win to build our confidence. it will help us very much psychologically.

Players

FREDETTE, JIMMER
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
"I wasn't playing great in the first half, I missed some open shots, but I just wanted to come out in the second half and be aggressive. My teammates did a great job and finding me, getting open shots, and they were fortunately falling. It was a great team effort; everyone contributed. Every time we play on the road is tough. We had two tough close losses recently. It is great to be able to pull out a victory in a close game. It builds our confidence as a team. We have a really good team, a lot of talent. We've just got to learn how to play together and learn how to win. This was a big step for us tonight."
CALATHES, NICK
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
"We started playing a little bit on defense, and our offense was a little better in the second half. Every EuroLeague game is a good win, and obviously, to be on the road it is a great win. It is a tough EuroLeague this season, and every road game is always difficult, so it is nice to get a win."
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