By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Kendrick Nunn scored 26 points, Kostas Sloukas added 16 points, Wenyen Gabriel had 15 plus eight rebounds, Juancho Hernangomez also scored 14 and had nine rebounds, and suddenly a lost game for Panathinaikos ended up being a triumph.
The defending champions had an 18-0 run to start the last period and ultimately got the 89-76 win over Zalgiris Kaunas which was in control for three quarters.
It was an eventful game with tension between fans in the stands and Panathinaikos coach Ergin Ataman getting ejected, however in the end Panathinaikos got the “W” after flirting with disaster.
Lonny Walker scored 19 points and Deividas Sirvydis had 13 for the losing side.
Panathinaikos got a 14-9 record after this result, while Zalgiris dropped to a negative record (11-12).
An unexpected turnaround
Zalgiris shocked Panathinaikos at OAKA, leading 25-17 after the first period and extending their advantage to 20 points (49-29) before the end of the first half.
With Sirvydis and Walker scoring 11 points each, at the end of the second period, the guests were up by 17 points (51-34) despite shooting just two out of seven threes. Panathinaikos was even worse with 2 out of 17 beyond the arc.
At the end of the third period, Panathinaikos managed to trim the lead to 10 (70-60) with coach Ergin Ataman being ejected in the 27th minute with two technical fouls.
With the coach out the Greeks saved the best for last, starting the last period with an 18-0 run and getting finally a 78-70 lead.
With a 29-2 partial score, Panathinaikos produced more basketball than they did for the first three