Panathinaikos Athens hands Zalgiris a sixth defeat in Euroleague as they simply demolished the hosts 94-59 (14-15, 5-26, 19-24, 21-29) in front of the packed arena in Kaunas.
Zalgiris were the first to open the
scoring but Panathinaikos didn't let it go unanswered and after Sonny
Weems' turnover, Marko Popovic was given an unsprtsmanlike foul. Both
teams were struggling to score and after the first ten minutes
Panathinaikos gained a one-point lead.
Shortly after the break the visitors turned the game to their side and with four minutes left until the big break already had an edge of ten points. Panathinaikos train just kept going, leaving the Greens trailing by 22 as the Greeks' 26-5 run looked more than humiliating.
In the second half the rivals kept scoring at will, while the hosts couldn't find ways to the basket. Despite a late spurt by the home side, Zalgiris didn't manage to get back, leaving the situation “do or die” if they are willing to reach the Top16 round.
Nick Calathes and Steven Smith led Panathinaikos with 17
points each, Mike Batiste chipped in 13, Ian Vougioukas had 8.
for Zalgiris, Sonny Weems scored 16, Marko Popvic added 14, Robertas Javtokas finished the game with 8.
Zeljko Obradovic (head coach of Panathinaikos Athens): "First of all, I must say I'm very happy because I'm sitting in this wonderful gym. The second quarter decided the game, we scored easy points while Zalgiris missed very many open shots. The quality of the teams isn't the same as the result right now. Good luck to Zalgiris in further competition.
Aleksandr Trifunovic (head coach of Zalgiris Kaunas): "It's difficult to give an explanation for the people who gathered here. We played twelve or thirteen minutes as a team, and then we just stopped. I've never thought that this team can be a defensive team, but in order to play on a level like this, we have to play at least good defense. We didn't give it on the court today."
