By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Despite non having on board both Frank Kaminsky and the long-time injured Aleksa Avramovic, Partizan Belgrade managed to extend its winning streak to four games with the on-the-road 93-85 victory thanks to the contribution of Kevin Punter.
Continuing on his amazing effort on offense since coming back from injury, the former Olimpia Milano played had one of those nights in the Zalgirio Arena by scoring 22 points with 4/6 from beyond the arc. He praised his team’s “killer mentality” after spending the first straight 32:46 minutes on the court. “They really played very aggressive defense at a certain moment in the third quarter, but we reacted well. I’m very proud of how we played today”, Zeljko Obradovic said.
Facing his former side, Zach LeDay had 13 points and 6 rebounds, while Bruno Caboclo had another consistent performance of 12 points and 6 rebounds. PJ Dozier (16 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists) also contributed to the Serbian team’s victory and commented in the post-game flash interview. “We wanted to come out with a lot of energy. We stayed together, and made the right plays”, he said.
As happened mostly since his move to Lithuania last season, the green-and-white leader Keenan Evans led his team in scoring with a dominant 33-point night (6/7 2FG, 4/8 3FG, 8/11 FT). Rolands Smits added 18 points for his team. “Partizan is an offensive team, and we can’t play with them with such a defense, we lost the game, especially in the first half”, Kazys Maksvytis commented after the loss.
Partizan Belgrade started things off effectively, getting an 11-point margin (16-5) at 4:20 in the first, and Zalgiris Kaunas managed to reduce the deficit at 8 points with Keenan Evans beating the buzzer in the traffic to enter the second. The black-and-white team followed offensively in the second quarter with back-to-back threes by Kevin Punter, providing an 11-3 run to force Kazys Maksvytis’ timeout with 7:56 on the clock.
Thanks to several contributions by PJ Dozier and Bruno Caboclo, Zeljko Obradovic’s team extended the lead to 14 points (58-44). Providing an emotional bounce-back to open the second half, Rolands Smits put Zalgiris Kaunas back within six points (64-58) by concluding a one-handed alley-oop from Keenan Evans at 4:39 on the clock. However, things changed quickly as Alen Smailagic flew for the 14-point (72-58) lead’s alley-oop later on. From then on, they never lost the lead until the final buzzer.
Partizan Belgrade (8-6) won’t come home at the Stark Arena before Christmas, playing next week’s double-game action all on the road in Spain, first against Valencia (December 19 at 21:00 CET) and then Real Madrid (December 21 at 20:45 CET). Zalgiris Kaunas (5-9), instead, will find a familiar face in Sarunas Jasikevicius by visiting Fenerbahce on December 20 at 18:30 CET. Then, they will host FC Barcelona two days later at 19:00 CET.
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague