The Turkish forward fired on all cylinders in the second half to turn the game around
Cedi Osman shines as Panathinaikos catches fire from deep in comeback win at Zalgiris
Izveštaji utakmica
3 Min čitanja
Regular Season
Round 18 of 38
Regular Season
Zalgiris KaunasZAL
8592
Panathinaikos AKTOR AthensPAO
Overview
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Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens looked on course for a long, rough night during the first half of its game at Zalgiris Kaunas. Zalgirio Arena was buzzing, as the hosts dominated in the paint to secure a 50-40 lead at halftime.
Everything was clicking for Zalgiris on the offensive end, with the hosts going 17 for 28 from inside the arc. Its bigs were finishing comfortably by throwing down open dunks and its guards were going all the way to the basket, with Panathinaikos’s defense not up to the task before the break.
Everything changed after the interval, however, as the visitors tightened up their defense and held the Lithuanian side to just 14 points in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, on the other end, Cedi Osman caught fire and didn't look back.
After scoring just 5 points in the first half, the Panathinaikos forward exploded in the second half to end the game on a team-high 22 points. His two triples in the third quarter allowed the visitors to cut the difference to 64-63 heading into the final frame.
Osman opened the fourth with another three that was followed with a mid-range jumper before his fifth three-pointer of the night gave Panathinaikos a 68-71 lead.
Kendrick Nunn took over by netting 7 of his team’s next 10 points, with the guests going on an 0-11 run to practically finish the game off. Panathinaikos eventually came away with an 85-92 win.
An extremely efficient Osman looked unstoppable, going an impressive 8 for 9 from the field in just over 33 minutes on the floor. After the game, he admitted that a wake-up call at halftime helped him flip the switch.
“At halftime, the coach had a few words for me,” Osman told EuroLeague TV. “Nothing bad, but it just kind of woke me up. In the first half I was just a bit passive, I had a couple of mistakes defensively. So, I had to wake up in the third quarter, and obviously the coach did a very good job on that. He totally woke me up and I just did my best for the team tonight, played with energy and we got a great win.”
Panathinaikos went 13 for 22 from beyond the arc to score 92 points against EuroLeague's second-stingiest defense (81.5 points conceded per game) heading into Tuesday’s clash. They made 9 of 14 from deep in the second half, outscoring Zalgiris 35-52 in the final 20 minutes. In fact, Panathinaikos is the first team to reach the 90-point mark at Zalgiris this season.
Meanwhile, on the other end, Ataman’s side did a great job of containing an in-form Sylvain Francisco, who was held to a season-low 4 points. What's more, the Zalgiris guard failed to score in a second half that saw his team’s offense suffocated by the guests.
“Our defense stepped up tonight, in the second half in particular,” Nunn told EuroLeague TV. “First half was a bit shaky, they got a lot of lobs and layups at the basket undefended, but went to the locker room, gathered, talked together and we stepped it up.”
Having grabbed its third straight victory, Panathinaikos heads into next week’s Greek derby brimming with confidence. And should the Greens emulate their second-half defensive performance, as well as their execution from beyond the arc, they will be able to close the first half of the season in style.
