Defending champion CSKA Moscow bested Panathinaikos Athens 81-77 on Friday at Megasport Arena in the Russian capital. CSKA triumphed in its second straight game to start the season 2-0, while Panathinaikos dropped to 1-1. Andrey Vorontsevich starred with 20 points on 5-of-6 three-point shooting for the winners and EuroLeague MVP Nando De Colo also scored 20. Aaron Jackson added 9 points and Milos Teodosic dished 9 assists. Demetris Nichols led the Greens with 20 points against his former team, K.C. Rivers netted 16 points and Nick Calathes flirted with a triple doubles (10 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists) in defeat. CSKA faces Anadolu Efes Istanbul in its next EuroLeague game, while Panathinaikos takes on Brose Bamberg.
The hosts had a great start, keeping Panathinaikos scoreless for the opening three and a half minutes. Back-to-back triples from Vorontsevich and Jackson made it 11-2 after five minutes, and back to back triples from each corner by Vorontsevich opened 17-5 margin. However, Nichols replied with back to back to back threes of his own, and a Rivers basket in a crowd cut it to 24-22. A three-point play from Nichols, who had 14 points before halftime, got Panathinaikos within 31-30 before CSKA had a stronger finish of the second quarter and went into halftime up 35-30. Great defense kept the Greens in the game in the first half, and offense put it in front after the break. A transition triple from Rivers gave Panathinaikos a 38-41 edge as the teams started traded blows, and leads. De Colo scored 11 points in the third quarter, but for each one of his baskets Panathinaikos had an answer through Rivers, Nichols or Calathes. A triple from Rivers put Panathinaikos up 50-55 as the visitors scored 28 points in the third stanza. They held a 63-68 lead with 6:04 left, but CSKA went on an 11-0 run. James Augustine anchored the defense and scored from close range on offense, and Vorontsevich added a triple to the tally, helping the hosts to a 74-68 cushion. The margin increased to 79-72, the largest lead of the second half with 24 seconds to go, which sealed the deal.
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