By Jay Yeomans

Published: November 19, 2019

Jimmer Fredette made some key plays down the stretch as Panathinaikos returned to the win column with an 86-85 win over a tough Zalgiris Kaunas on the road on Tuesday.

In his first game back in the lineup – after missing three games with a calf strain – Fredette finished with 11 points on the strength of 5-for-6 shooting from the foul line while collecting a rebound and handing out an assist in 22:17 on the floor.

Fredette did almost all of his damage on the offensive end in the second half with seven of his 11 points, including five points in the final 93 seconds as the Greens were able to hold off a hard-charged Zalgiris squad.

The Jimmer Watch shared some fun highlights of the win.

Nick Calathes paced Panathinaikos in the win with 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field, including 5-for-7 from 3-point range. He added 12 assists and five rebounds with just one turnover in 27:28.

Deshaun Thomas and Ioannis Papapetrou also played important roles for the Greens who improved to 5-4 with the win. Thomas registered 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field while missing just one of his four attempts from beyond the arc while Papapetrou managed 12 points, five rebounds and a pair of steals in 26:12.

Zach LeDay led a balanced Zalgiris offense with 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field while Lukas Lekavicius added 14 points and five assists.

Jock Landale chipped in with 12 points and eight rebounds while Arturas Milaknis and Edgaras Ulanovas totaled 11 points apiece as the Lithuanian power fell to 3-6.

Thoughts on the game

While Fredette didn’t have his best game of the season it was great to see him back on the court and making plays when it mattered most. And his teammates surely felt the same way. After all, in his three-game absence, the Greens lost a pair of games, were eliminated in the quarterfinals of a tournament they had won eight of the last nine years and fired their coach.

Inside the numbers

Even though he missed a free-throw, Fredette is still in the top five in that category in the league at 93.3 percent.

It was the seventh time in eight games that Fredette scored in double figures and his fifth game in a row reaching that benchmark.

Through eight games, he is averaging 13.8 points, 2.3 assists and 1.6 rebounds in 21:47. What’s most impressive about that point total is that he is scoring that much on just nine field-goal attempts a night.

Up next

Fredette and the Greens have just two days off before they are back on the floor to face off with FC Bayern Munich on the road.

The German squad is one game behind Panathinaikos in the standing with a 4-5 record through nine games.

While there are some familiar faces on Bayern’s roster, the one that stands out the most is long-time NBA big man Greg Monroe, who like Jimmer, is in his first season in the EuroLeague.

Monroe has made a solid transition to the European game, averaging 13.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.2 steals in 25:08.