Panathinaikos beat Zalgiris in the last minute thriller / News - Basketnews.com

An offensively unproductive and drama-filled night for both teams ultimately ended in victory for Panathinaikos Athens.

Credit: Panagiotis Moschandreou via Getty Images Credit Panagiotis Moschandreou via Getty Images

The two teams were far from their offensive prowess, but eventually, Panathinaikos Athens triumphed over Zalgiris Kaunas in what was a close game with many lead changes (18) and low differentials. The final score was 73-71 (13-15, 23-24, 17-13, 20-19).

Player of the Game EFF 23 Konstantinos Mitoglou Points 19 Accuracy 7-10 Rebounds 6 Assists 2

Particularly, the crunch time was of high stress, as both teams exchanged missed shots. With 1 minute and 41 seconds remaining, Jerian Grant fouled Keenan Evans in the penalty and sent him to the free-throw line. Evans converted both and put Zalgiris ahead by 1 point (67-68).

Lessort, battling on the offensive boards, managed to draw the foul and converted two of the most important free-throws in the game for him, although he was struggling beforehand (69-68).

While he did manage to draw the offensive foul from Rolands Smits, forcing Zalgiris to turn the ball over and get the Latvian power forward his fifth foul in what was a good game for him, Lessort ironically also committed an offensive foul Keenan Evans in the subsequent possession.

However, his teammates made amends for his mistake by employing strong team defense and forcing Zalgiris to commit the turnover.

The Lithuanian team committed a foul with 21.4 seconds to go and sent Kostas Sloukas to the line, where he converted both charity shots to put his team up by three points (71-68).

Coach Kazys Maksyvytis took a timeout, and Zalgiris tied the score with a three-point shot by Brady Manek (71-71), which prompted Ergin Ataman to take his first and only timeout in the game.

Ataman's timeout involved an isolation attack by Sloukas. Panathinaikos barely inbounded the ball to the Greek guard, who got fouled and was able to convert only the first of the free throws (72-71).

However, Zalgiris handled the ball poorly, turning it over against strong defense by the Greek team. Marius Grigonis was fouled by the visiting team with three seconds remaining. He opted to make the first free throw (73-71) but purposefully missed the second to bring about a swift end to the game.

Panathinaikos Athens / Schedule

ALBA Berlin Panathinaikos Athens85-99 Panathinaikos Athens Zalgiris Kaunas73-71 Panathinaikos Athens Virtus Segafredo BolognaFri19:15

This was a lucky gamble as Arnas Butkevicius threw the ball to the other side of the court, but Konstantinos Mitoglou stole it, thus cementing his team's victory.

Mitoglou was fantastic for his team, continuing his good form. He scored 19 points on 70% FG shooting, collecting 6 rebounds and dishing 2 blocks.

Coach Ataman relied much on the Greek power forward as he played more than 38 minutes. Jerian Grant also was a key player on both ends, having 10 points, 5 assists, and 0 turnovers while accumulating 2 steals. He was also one of the players that forced Evans to turn the ball over in the end.

For Zalgiris, Arnas Butkevicius had the most PIR of 13. He had 10 points and 8 rebounds but also 4 turnovers.

Rolands Smits was having a phenomenal fourth quarter, scoring 12 points in 9 minutes in the decisive quarter. He had to exit the game after charging Mathias Lessort, however.

Panathinaikos: Dinos Mitoglou 19 (6 REB, 2 BLK), Jerian Grant 10 (5 AST, 2 STL), Mathias Lessort 13 (4/7 2PT, 7 TO)

Zalgiris Kaunas: Rolands Smits 15 PTS, Arnas Butkevicius 10 (8 REB, 4 TO), Laurynas Birutis 9 PTS

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