Panathinaikos OPAP Athens rounded a perfect double round week by downing Zalgiris Kaunas 96-94 in the Greek capital on Friday. Panathinaikos improved to 12-8 to rank 6th in the standings while Zalgiris dropped to 6-14. Tyrese Rice led the winners with 20 points. DeShaun Thomas added 16, Nick Calathes 14, Jimmer Fredette 11 and Ioannis Papapetrou 10 for Panathinaikos. Thomas Walkup and Lukas Lekavicius led Zalgiris with 16 points apiece. KC Rivers added 13, Jock Landale had 11 while Zach LeDay and Edgaras Ulanovas got 10 apiece for the guests. Landale and Arturas Milaknis stepped up early, getting help from an unstoppable LeDay to give Zalgiris a double-digit lead, 13-24. Rice and Georgios Papagiannis rescued Panathinaikos and it was 46-49 at halftime. Rice kept pacing Panathinaikos after the break, before Calathes and Papagiannis took over in the fourth quarter and consecutive three-pointers by Thomas allowed Panathinaikos to seal the game.
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