2018-19Regular SeasonRound 19
Zalgiris Kaunas 82
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 69
January 18, 2019 CET: 19:00
Local time: 20:00 ZALGIRIO ARENA

Zalgiris rallies to sweep Panathinaikos

In a hard-fought battle, Zalgiris Kaunas rallied from a first-half double-digit deficit to down visiting Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 82-69 at the Zalgirio Arena on Friday night. With this win Zalgiris swept Panathinaikos to take a tie-break advantage. Currently, both teams stand at 8-11 in a four-way share of ninth place in the standings. Zalgiris used a 13-0 spurt to open the third quarter and take the lead for good, and a 10-2 run to open the fourth and pave the way to victory. Aaron White scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, and Marius Grigonis netted 13. Brandon Davies and Nate Wolters contributed with 10 points apiece for Zalgiris. DeShaun Thomas paced Panathinaikos with 14 points, Nick Calathes had 11 points and 6 assists, and Sean Kilpatrick also scored 11 on his debut.

Thomas scored in transition from close range and long range to get Panathinaikos going, before fastbreak buckets from Matt Lojeski and Thanasis Antetokounmpo made it 8-17. Baskets from Paulius Jankunas cut it to 13-19 after 10 minutes, but Kilpatrick opened the second quarter with a triple to help extend it to 16-26. However, Zalgiris replied as a triple from Derrick Walton sparked an 11-0 run, which included a pair of baskets from Brandon Davies and a fastbreak dunk by Deon Thompson to give Zalgiris its first lead, 27-26. Panathinaikos had an answer, as Nikos Pappas hit a triple and Konstantinos Mitoglou had a fastbreak basket to take 33-37 into the break. However, Zalgiris stormed out of the gate in the third quarter. While holding Panathinaikos scoreless for more than 5 minutes, Edgaras Ulanovas had a three-pointer before Aaron White took over, scoring 7 consecutive points to open a 46-37 lead. Kilpatrick snapped the 13-0 run, getting the visitors going, and a triple from Calathes helped cut it to 48-46. But the hosts remained in front, 52-51 after three quarters, then scored the first 7 points of the fourth with a run capped by Wolters’ triple. A three-point play by Thomas Walkup opened 62-53, before a three-pointer from Grigonis and an alley-oop from Walton to White extended it to 76-61 with 2:13 to go, sealing the deal.

Key run

Zalgiris stormed out of the gate in the third quarter with a 13-0 run, holding Panathinaikos without a basket for 5 minutes and 11 seconds. Meanwhile, Edgaras Ulanovas nailed a triple, Marius Grigonis followed up with a three-point play before Aaron White scored 7 consecutive points, including a triple and a pair of dunks to open a 46-37 lead. The visitors did not go away, but Zalgiris never relinquished the lead.

Stellar stat

Zalgiris scored 33 points in the first half, but finished by putting up 30 points in the fourth quarter alone.

Transition difference

Panathinaikos made defensive stops and controlled the boards in the first half, allowing them to run the floor and score 18 transition points before halftime. But things changed in the second half. Zalgiris committed just 3 turnovers after halftime, and Panathinaikos scored just 4 more points in transition.

Did you know?

This was the 26th meeting between these two teams, and the 13th season they met in the EuroLeague – having played four games in the 1990s and 22 times since the turn of the century. This is the very first season Zalgiris swept Panathinaikos.

Next game

Next week in Round 20 both teams will be on the road on Thursday. Panathinaikos visits Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv, while Zalgiris travels to play AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan.

Aaron White - Zalgiris Kaunas - EB18
Friday, January 18, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: LAMONICA, LUIGI; BELOSEVIC, ILIJA; PERUGA, CARLOS
Attendance: 15140
By Quarter1234
Zalgiris Kaunas13201930
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens19181418
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Zalgiris Kaunas13335282
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens19375169
Zalgiris Kaunas
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 DAVIES, BRANDON 23:16 10 4/7   2/2 1 3 4 3 3 1     4 6 18
1 WALTON JR, DERRICK 17:38 9 0/1 1/1 6/7   3 3 4 2 2       3 17
2 THOMPSON, DEON 12:51 4 2/4       2 2     1 1   2   2
3 WOLTERS, NATE 20:06 10 2/6 2/2   1 2 3 3   1     2   9
7 WALKUP, THOMAS 18:22 5 1/2 0/3 3/3   2 2 2       1 1 2 5
13 JANKUNAS, PAULIUS 16:16 9 3/7   3/4 2 3 5 1         1 4 13
17 BIRUTIS, LAURYNAS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 MILAKNIS, ARTURAS 16:21   0/4       2 2 1       1 1   -3
30 WHITE, AARON 25:24 15 6/7 1/1   2 2 4 1 1   2   2 2 22
31 JOKUBAITIS, ROKAS 2:27   0/1 0/1             1         -3
40 GRIGONIS, MARIUS 23:08 13 2/3 2/3 3/3   3 3 3 1 3     3 6 18
92 ULANOVAS, EDGARAS 24:11 7 1/2 1/4 2/2 2   2 1       1 2 3 6
Team             1 1               1
Totals 200:00 82 21/44 7/15 19/21 8 23 31 19 7 9 3 3 18 26 105
        47.7% 46.7% 90.5%
Head coach: JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
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 23:29 14 2/3 3/4 1/2 1 4 5     5     2 2 11
6 PAPAGIANNIS, GEORGIOS 9:50 4 2/2     1 2 3   1         1 9
7 LASME, STEPHANE 2:55                   1     1   -2
10 PAPAPETROU, IOANNIS 21:13 4 2/3 0/3   2 3 5   1 1 2   2 1 6
11 PAPPAS, NIKOS 5:54 3 0/1 1/1     1 1     2     3 1 -1
14 GIST, JAMES 24:03 8 4/8     2 2 4 1 1 1 1   5 4 9
19 LEKAVICIUS, LUKAS 9:29 3   1/3         1       1 2 1  
23 KILPATRICK, SEAN 24:55 11 4/9 1/5         3 1 1   1 1 1 4
24 LOJESKI, MATT 9:11 2 1/1       1 1           1   2
33 CALATHES, NICK 30:31 11 3/8 1/4 2/2   3 3 6 1 2     2 5 14
43 ANTETOKOUNMPO, THANASIS 18:47 2 1/1 0/2     4 4 3 2 1     5 1 4
44 MITOGLOU, KONSTANTINOS 19:43 7 3/5 0/1 1/2 5 1 6 1       1 2 1 8
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 69 22/41 7/23 4/6 12 23 35 15 7 14 3 3 26 18 67
        53.7% 30.4% 66.7%
Head coach: PITINO, RICK

Head Coaches

JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
Zalgiris Kaunas

"The fact is we were not making any fouls and allowing 18 points in transition in the first half. A lot of our turnovers were punished, a lot of transition baskets that can be avoided. All the cheap stuff. When we controlled the cheap stuff a little bit more, we looked much better in the second half. And, of course, when you are hitting shots it helps a lot. I think the defense was pretty good. I think we still have long way to go to improve, but this team has character, we know it, and I think they pulled this one out with their character. Zalgiris's job is to stay in the playoff hunt as long as possible. So far we are doing it, so let's see. We have to improve our game, though."

"Congratulations to our players, and congratulations to our fans who bought the tickets and sold out this game a month ago. Also, I want to wish Thanasis Giannakopoulos a healthy recovery. He is truly one of my favorite people in the world, and hopefully he will recover."

PITINO, RICK
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
"It was a great atmosphere and great arena. Just tremendous. I’m impressed with that first of all. This is the best we've played since I've come aboard, in the first half. The defense was outstanding, the offensive ball movement was outstanding. Then we reverted to why the guys lose games, in the second half. With careless passing, with not getting into their roles offensively. And then they broke down defensively when they got down. That’s what bothered me the most, when they got down they broke down and played like undisciplined players. You got to learn how to play from behind on the road to get a victory. I am really really pleased with the first half, really disappointed with the second half."

Players

WHITE, AARON
Zalgiris Kaunas
"The first half we were a little bit soft with the ball, had turnovers and allowed 18 transition points. The second half we turned that way down. We played a half-court game and also our stops led to some fastbreaks for us. I think that was the difference. It is a huge victory. You don’t want to look too far ahead, but every game is important and you've got to protect your home court. This is a team that is close with us in the standings, and we are all fighting for the playoff spots. So all the games coming up are important and I am proud of our team. That alley-oop (in the fourth quarter), it was crazy. Walton threw it from beyond half court; it was an amazing pass. Plays like that are why you play the game. I am happy that Derrick made a great pass and I was able to finish it."
WOLTERS, NATE
Zalgiris Kaunas
"It is a big win. We definitely needed it. We've been struggling at home all year and it is good to get one in front of the fans. The fans were great the whole night, and we played great in the second half. I stepped on someone's foot and rolled my ankle, but I was able to finish the game. We played really well in the second half. Everyone contributed so it was a good win. We needed it really badly so we played hard and it feels great to get one here at home. The fans give us energy. They have been great all year and hopefully we can get more wins here at home."