2019-20Regular SeasonRound 23
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 78
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 73
February 05, 2020 CET: 19:00
Local time: 19:00 STARK ARENA

Zvezda rallies past Panathinaikos at home

Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade came from behind to defeat Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 78-73 in the Serbian capital on Wednesday. Zvezda improved to 10-13 in the standings, snapping a four-game losing streak, while Panathinaikos dropped to 13-9. Kevin Punter led the winners with 24 points and Stratos Perperoglou added 12 in his return from injury for Zvezda. DeShaun Thomas and Georgios Papagiannis paced Panathinaikos with 12 points apiece. Jimmer Fredette scored 11 while Nikos Pappas had 10 for the visitors. Fredette stepped up with 8 points in an 0-11 run that gave Panathinaikos a comfortable lead, 46-57, after 30 minutes. Vladimir Stimac and Perperoglou led a 13-0 run that put the hosts ahead, 68-65, with 3 minutes left. Nick Calathes gave Panathinaikos its last lead, 71-73, but Punter scored 6 of his team's last 7 points to lead Zvezda to its 10th win of the season.

Panathinaikos found easy points early, as Calathes, Papaggianis, Papapetrou and Pappas all scored around the basket for a 2-8 lead. Billy Baron struck from downtown but Dinos Mitoglou matched that with a layup-plus-foul. Calathes banked in a running jumper and Pappas added a fastbreak layup to make it a double-digit game, 5-15. Baron buried a floater and Punter added a jumper, but Tyrese Rice and Thomas kept Panathinaikos way ahead, 9-19. A put-back by Papagiannis boosted the visitors' lead to 9-21 after 10 minutes. Punter hit a mid-range jumper early in the second quarter, but the visitors kept running their offense through Papagiannis for a 12-25 advantage. Jagodic-Kuridza and Punter tried to change things for the hosts, bringing their team a bit closer, 21-29. Michael Ojo ignited the crowd with a layup in transition and Davidovac struck from beyond the arc to get Zvezda within 28-32. Perperoglou found his first points, Punter added a triple and Davidovac dunked off a steal to cap a 10-0 run and give the hosts a 35-32 lead at halftime.

Papagiannis hit a five-meter jumper soon after the break and Pappas followed a fastbreak layup with a three-pointer as Panathinaikos regained the initiative, 37-39. Baron answered with a layup and James Gist scored in the low post, but the visitors found a go-to guy in Fredette, who had been held scoreless until then. He had 8 quick points, including a couple of tough running jumpers, in an 0-11 run that Wesley Johnson capped with a triple to restore a double-digit Panathinaikos lead, 41-53. Davidovac scored in penetration and Charles Jenkins added a layup, but Thomas singlehandedly kept the visitors way ahead, 46-57, after 30 minutes. Papagiannis stepped up with a put-back layup early in the fourth quarter, but Punter and Stimac kept Zvezda within 52-59. Fredette buried a three-pointer and Thomas added a layup-plus-foul that gave Panathinaikos fresh air, 55-65, with over 6 minutes left. Not for long, however, as Stimac and Perperoglou combined for all the points in a 13-0 run that gave Zvezda a 68-65 edge with 3 minutes left. Mitoglou scored around the basket and Thomas bettered Punter's jumper with a corner triple that tied it at 70-70. After Perperoglou split free throws, Calathes made an off-balance three-point play. Punter answered from downtown and added a technical foul shot for a 75-73 Zvezda lead with 52.3 seconds left. Jenkins collected a critical steal, which allowed Baron to split free throws, 76-73, with 15.2 seconds to go. Thomas missed a long jumper at the buzzer.

Pivotal performer

Kevin Punter made the difference and hit the most important shot of the game, a go-ahead three-pointer in the final minute. He finished the game with 24 points on 4-of-6 two-point shooting, 2-of-5 three-pointers and 10-of-11 free throws, adding an assist, 2 steals and 8 fouls drawn for a PIR of 28, a new personal best.

Game-changing moment

Charles Jenkins made the defensive play of the game with a critical steal in a one-on-one situation against Jimmer Fredette, which allowed Billy Baron and eventually Kevin Punter to seal the win from the foul line.

Stellar stat

Turnovers made the difference in this game. Zvezda committed just 8, its second fewest this season. It previously had 7 against Zalgiris Kaunas on January 15. Panathinaikos made 18 turnovers, its second-worst mark this season. It had 19 against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul on December 17.

Did you notice?

Zvezda had been outrebounded in each game in its four-game losing streak. Panathinaikos heavily outrebounded Zvezda by 32-47, getting its best rebounding mark in the EuroLeague ever in a non-overtime game, but Zvezda walked away with the victory.

Next game

Both teams return to EuroLeague action on Friday, February 7. Zvezda travels to Russia to face Khimki Moscow Region. Panathinaikos hosts Zenit St Petersburg.

Michael Ojo - Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade - EB19
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Euroleague.net
Referees: PEREZ, MIGUEL ANGEL; DIFALLAH, MEHDI; UDYANSKYY, EDUARD
Attendance: 12867
By Quarter1234
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade9261132
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens21112516
End of Quarter1234
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade9354678
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens21325773
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
00 PUNTER, KEVIN 23:52 24 4/6 2/5 10/11   1 1 1 2 1     1 8 28
4 BROWN, LORENZO 13:39   0/8 0/1     2 2 2 1 1   1 1   -7
5 PERPEROGLOU, STRATOS 17:15 12 2/4 1/2 5/7   4 4         1 2 5 13
7 DAVIDOVAC, DEJAN 18:44 8 2/3 1/2 1/2 1   1 1 2 1 1   1 2 10
10 LAZIC, BRANKO 12:44   0/1               1         -2
12 BARON, BILLY 18:32 8 2/3 1/6 1/2                 1 3 3
15 GIST, JAMES 10:35 2 1/2 0/1     1 1 2   1     3   -1
21 JAGODIC-KURIDZA, MARKO 24:39 5 2/3 0/1 1/4   5 5 1     2 1 4 3 6
22 JENKINS, CHARLES 26:21 2 1/1 0/1   1 2 3 5 2 1     3   7
28 SIMANIC, BORISA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
50 OJO, MICHAEL 15:06 8 2/3   4/4 2 5 7 1 1 1     1 4 18
91 STIMAC, VLADIMIR 18:33 9 3/7   3/4 2 2 4   1     1 3 2 7
Team           1 3 4     1         3
Totals 200:00 78 19/41 5/19 25/34 7 25 32 13 9 8 3 4 20 27 85
        46.3% 26.3% 73.5%
Head coach: SAKOTA, DRAGAN
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 21:29 12 3/4 1/4 3/5 1 2 3 1 1 3 1 1 3 4 9
5 RICE, TYRESE 13:15 4 2/3       2 2 3   2     2   4
6 PAPAGIANNIS, GEORGIOS 21:18 12 5/9   2/2 4 1 5     2 1 1 4 2 9
8 RAUTINS, ANDY DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
10 PAPAPETROU, IOANNIS 14:52 2 1/2 0/2     5 5 1 2 1 2   1   7
11 PAPPAS, NIKOS 16:24 10 3/5 1/2 1/1   3 3     1     2   7
24 JOHNSON, WESLEY 18:22 3   1/2     3 3           5    
32 FREDETTE, JIMMER 20:08 11 2/3 1/2 4/4 1   1 1 1 4       4 12
33 CALATHES, NICK 30:48 9 4/10 0/7 1/1   4 4 5   4     3 3 1
35 WILEY, JACOB 2:22                              
44 MITOGLOU, KONSTANTINOS 22:07 10 3/6 0/2 4/5 6 4 10 2 1 1     4 5 17
50 BENTIL, BEN 18:55   0/4 0/1   2   2 2       1 3 1 -4
Team           3 6 9               9
Totals 200:00 73 23/46 4/22 15/18 17 30 47 15 5 18 4 3 27 19 71
        50% 18.2% 83.3%
Head coach: PITINO, RICK

Head Coaches

SAKOTA, DRAGAN
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
"I feel great. We really wanted this win, especially with this [schedule] that we have to play a lot of important games. This one is not looking like it was that important, but we really wanted to win this game, because I think we probably deserved one more before. Anyway, it was difficult to play against a team that is rebounding like this. They had 15 more rebounds... What was important was to win and the crucial rebound, we took it, so that was really something special. Stratos Perperoglou is a personality to respect for his whole career and everything. We were waiting for him and I am very, very happy for him, that he is back."
PITINO, RICK
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
"In the last few games that we played, I was very unimpressed, even though we won one of them. Tonight, I think we played well on defense. We held them to 5-of-19 from three, 26%, 46% from the two. We rebounded the basketball well and played with a good effort except one thing that you cannot do is turning the ball over on the road. It was 18-8 turnovers. I think that we had a really bad break tonight because our starting small forward [Ioannis Papapetrou] got hurt, our backup power forward [Wesley Johnson] fouled out and we had to go with somebody that didn't know their position down the stretch and that really hurt us. Red Star made big shots down the stretch. There are a lot of us that are not in the top four that are going to fight for their playoffs life. We have to keep on fighting and get better."

Players

PERPEROGLOU, STRATOS
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
"I felt good to be out on the court again with my teammates. It has been too long. I just wanted to help the team. We beat one of the best teams in the league and it was a good effort by everybody. We came back twice and that shows that we have character. We kept fighting even when we were down 10, 12, 13 points. We didn't give up and kept fighting. Charlie [Jenkins] and Kevin [Punter] had some great defenses and we came back twice. It felt good to be out there but still, I am not in the best shape but slowly, I hope to get back to it."
PUNTER, KEVIN
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
"Like I said at the end of the first half, we had to stay with it, keep playing and stay locked in, stick to the game plan, and that's what we did. That's a great team and still, we had to protect our home court. I think we had lost four straight, so we had to find some confidence and find some momentum. We had to keep putting pressure. A lot of times, we let up and in the second half, we took it to another level."
MITOGLOU, KONSTANTINOS
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
"We were very well prepared. We knew that Red Star would play hard. In such a game, one detail plays a role. We lost a very important rebound in the end that cost us the win. We had our ups and downs. We need to stabilize our performance. We keep fighting until the end and we want to build on that."