Panathinaikos rolls Bayern, 75-87

Panathinaikos OPAP Athens completed a perfect double-round week on the road by downing host FC Bayern Munich 75-87 on Friday. The Greens lifted their record to 6-4 and left Bayern behind at 4-6. Bayern led 19-10 late in the first quarter, but a 0-20 run that lasted more than 6 minutes of the third quarter put Panathinaikos in charge the rest of the way. Deshaun Thomas led six double-digit Panathinaikos scorers with 14 points. Tyrese Rice added 13, Nick Calathes 12, Ioannis Papapetrou and Dinos Mitoglou 11 each, while Jimmer Fredette downed 10. Bayern got a career-high 23 points and 7 rebounds from Paul Zipser, but only Greg Monroe, with 15 and 8, respectively, could join him in double figures. The victory left interim head coach Giorgos Vovoras with a 2-0 record on the road this week for Panathinaikos as reports suggest that Rick Pitino will return to the Greens' bench before Round 11.

Early triples by Thomas and Fredette matched a pair shot in by Maodo Lo in an 8-8 start. Monroe's 3 consecutive baskets inside, with 2 of them converted for three-point plays, suddenly sent Bayern in front 19-10. Calathes and Thomas broke that spell, but DeMarcus Nelson answered against his old team and Mathias Lessort's put-back finished the first quarter with Bayern up 24-16. Thomas and Petteri Koponen traded triples to open the second quarter. Rice and Jacob Wiley joined the scoring for Panathinaikos to make it 27-23. Fredette got the visitors closer before a tip-in by Mitoglou tied it 33-33. Fredette was back with 3 free throws to give Panathinaikos the minimum lead, 35-36, at the half. Zipser's basket and assist to Monroe restored a Bayern advantage at 39-38. Ioannis Papapetrou flipped the scoreboard again with a triple that Thomas and Calathes both copied him as Panathinaikos surged to a double-digit lead, 39-49. The visitors' run reached 0-17 on a steal and fastbreak connection between Thomas and Jacob Wiley, but it still wasn't over. Papapetrou drilled from the corner at 39-58 before Zipser finally ended the drought for Bayern. Vladimir Lucic scored his first points on a triple, Zipser hit free throws and Lucic finished a fastbreak to cut the difference to 48-60. Thomas and Zipser traded triples before Rice and Nelson did so closer to the basket as the third quarter ended 53-65. Zipser's baseline jumper and transition triple closed the gap to 58-67 before Calathes answered to retain a double-digit advantage for the Greens. Rice and Calathes soon buried triples, and when Danilo Barthel replied from deep for Bayern, Mitoglou matched him at 63-80 with less than 5 minutes left. It was all that Bayern could do after that to cut the difference a bit as Panathinaikos went home with another victory to sweep its first double-round week away from home.

Pivotal performer

Tyrese Rice, who played a season for Bayern early in his pro career, had no mercy on his old team. His 13 points, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 rebounds were all the better for how efficient he was, spending just 15 minutes on the floor to put high productivity to work for the Greens.

Game-changing sequence

After Bayern went ahead 39-38 shortly after halftime, Panathinaikos took out the defensive handcuffs. The result was a 0-20 run to 39-58 that lasted more than 6 minutes in which Bayern could not buy a point while Ioannis Papetrou applied daggers with 2 of his 3 three-pointers on the night. Altogether, Panathinaikos outscored Bayern 20-48 from late in the first quarter to late in the third.

Stellar stat

The stats say that the Panathinaikos bench, led by Rice, outscored Bayern's by 17-38, but that only tells half the story. Because in that six-minute, 0-20 third-quarter run, the Panathinaikos reserves were also defending like demons, with Benjamin Bentil and Dinos Mitoglou stopping anyone from getting near the rim and sending their comrades off on easy transitions that broke the game open.

Did you notice?

This is the first road win ever between Panathinaikos and Bayern. Until now, these teams had beaten each other twice each as home teams in the the 2014-15 and 2018-19 seasons.

Next game

After two home games, Bayern heads off to challenge first-place Anadolu Efes in Istanbul on Friday of Round 11. One night earlier, Panathinaikos returns to the friendly confines of OAKA in Athens to receive a visit from KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz.