Andrea Trinchieri’s group turned up the heat on defense to grab the win.
Zalgiris flipped the script to beat Panathinaikos
Article
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 25 of 34
Regular Season
Zalgiris KaunasZAL
8068
Panathinaikos AKTOR AthensPAO
Overview
w
w
l
w
l
l
w
l
w
w
Zalgiris Kaunas managed to complete a perfect double-round week in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague by defeating Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens 80-68 in Round 25.
After an offensive explosion from both teams in the first quarter, which ended 25-25, Zalgiris increased the defensive pressure and ended up recording 11 steals while forcing 15 Panathinaikos turnovers. That was just the opposite of what most people would have expected beforehand.
“The end of the second quarter and the second half were completely different. It was a slower game, fewer points, more defense, more 50-50 balls, deflections. And that is in our favor, so that’s why we won the game,” said Zalgiris team captain Edgaras Ulanovas.
Zalgiris defied the pre-game stats
Zalgiris’s defense had ranked just 13th in both steals (6.2 per game) and forced turnovers (12.3 per game). And it was Panathinaikos which was known for its pressure defense. After all, the Greek side was first in steals at 7.5 per game and forced the second-most turnovers at 13.9. Yet, on Friday night, Zalgiris committed just 9 turnovers with Panathinaikos swiping 5 steals.
“This was not a tactical game. It was a game with a lot of one-on-one situations. We just raised the level of pressure on the ball. So, we slowed down the passes,” added Zalgiris coach Andrea Trinchieri.
Evans was on fire from deep
Even though it exuded so much effort on the defensive end, Zalgiris was still able to stay true to its main offensive strength. That was thanks mainly to Keenan Evans, as the Zalgiris leader made 4-of-5 three-pointers with the team managing 8-of-21 from long range for 38.1%, not far off its EuroLeague-leading average of 40.7%.
And that came against a Panathinaikos defense which allowed opposing teams to hit just 33.2% on three-pointers, the third-best clip in the competition.