Calathes returns, sparks Greens over Efes

Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens remained undefeated at home this season with a 90-79 victory over Anadolu Efes Istanbul on Thursday at Olympic Sports Center Athens. Nick Calathes returned after a three-game absence to produce 17 points, 9 assists and 3 steals as the Greens took a double-digit lead in the first quarter and held it for nearly all of the game. Nikos Pappas returned from injury as well to score 16 points off the bench and James Gist added 10. The hosts made 14 of 26 three-point shots (53.9%) with Marcus Denmon going 3 for 3. The win lifted Panathinaikos to 11-5, while sending Efes to 4-12. Josh Adams produced a personal-best 20 points to pace Efes, which was without leading scorer Errick McCollum. Brock Motum added 14 points, Krunoslav Simon scored 13 and Bryant Dunston posted 12 points and 8 rebounds. Efes outrebounded Panathinaikos 20-37, but was plagued by poor free throw shooting (11 of 19; 57.9%) and 14 turnovers.

The Greens started slowly by missing their first 4 shots, but then scored on five consecutive possessions to take an 11-4 lead on a Calathes triple. After the TV timeout, Efes drew within 2 on a three by Adams, but Panathinaikos went on a 10-0 tear with baskets coming twice through tip-ins from Gist and Thanasis Antetokounmpo and then on a Calathes steal and layup to lead 21-9. Vladimir Stimac came off the bench to score on his first touch as the visitors drew within 23-12 after 10 minutes. Efes tried to claw its way back through a pair of Simon floaters and another by Motum. Adams blew through the Panathinaikos defense for a layup that made it 29-22. Pappas scored 5 points to reestablish a double-digit lead and Lukas Lekavicius nailed a three for a 39-25 advantage. Derrick Brown got Efes within 10, but a pair of Marcus Denmon triples – the second on the halftime buzzer – left the hosts ahead 47-33 at the break.

Adams and Calathes traded shots early in the second half, but the hosts kept rolling when the visitors cooled off. Triples by Denmon and Calathes boosted the margin to 60-45 midway through the third quarter. Singleton stretched the margin to 17 as the Greens remained in total control. Brown and Dunston could only keep pace with the home team, but the Greens kept rocketing in threes. Matt Lojeski’s strike from downtown made it 70-51. A Birkan Batuk three and Motum layup got Efes within 70-56 by the end of the third quarter. Kenny Gabriel became the sixth Panathinaikos player to connect from downtown, but soon the hosts cooled off and Adams got Efes within 80-68. However Pappas’s next three kept the score comfortably in Panathinaikos’s favor and Gist put an exclamation point on the win with a slam in the closing seconds.