Panathinaikos improved to 10-7 with a comfortable 82-65 home win over Zvezda (6-11), staying on course to reach the post-season after the Greek giant stifled out the visitors with ironclad defense from start to finish.
Dinos Mitoglou paced Panathinaikos with 15 points, Jerian Grant scored 14 and Mathias Lessort chopped in with 13 as the Greens racked up their fourth straight win to remain firmly in the upper half of the table.
At the other end, Nemanja Nedovic and Joel Bolomboy posted 15 points each for Zvezda, while Yago Dos Santos and Luka Mitrovic chipped in with 12 apiece for the visitors, whose influential playmaker Milos Teodosic was held scoreless as he was played off the court by the home team's aggressive defense.
Panathinaikos led from start to finish, with Zvezda only able to hold its own in the first quarter when it trailed 20-17. Panathinaikos stepped up the intensity from there on, leading 38-31 at halftime before carving out a 61-50 advantage at the end of the third quarter.
With Lessort and Mitoglou dominating the paint for the hosts, whose half-court pressure denied Zvezda open looks at the other end, Panathinaikos pulled away further in the fourth and closed out the game to delight a festive home crowd at OAKA Arena.
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