The Turkish forward finally impressed his compatriot and head coach Ergin Ataman after stepping up in the fourth quarter of a thrilling contest with Maccabi
Cedi Osman was the unsung hero for Panathinaikos in win over Maccabi
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Regular Season
Round 9 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens clawed out a 93-87 home win over Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv thanks to a huge fourth-quarter comeback masterminded by perennial top performers Kendrick Nunn and Mathias Lessort, but it was also facilitated by a flawless supporting cast.
Most of all, forward Cedi Osman stood out as he scored 10 of his 12 points in the final 10 minutes, including a pair of clutch three-pointers which helped the reigning champ erase a 60-71 deficit and bounce back from last week’s tough home loss to traditional rival Olympiacos Piraeus in the Greek derby.
It was Osman’s most telling contribution since he joined Panathinaikos during the offseason after a seven-year stint in the NBA, as he apparently needed some time to adapt to the European game. His clutch effort drew praise from head coach and Turkish compatriot Ergin Ataman, who also singled out Lessort.
“We improved our aggressiveness on defense 100 percent in the last 15 minutes,” Ataman said in his post-game comments. “We also upped the tempo because Maccabi play very good basketball 5 on 5, but we found some fast-break points and got the crowd involved. Cedi Osman made a huge impact for the first time this season and Lessort played much better in the second half. A very important win in a game where we didn’t play well for 25 minutes.”
With Panathinaikos struggling from long range for much of the contest, Nunn was also pivotal as he too netted 10 of his team-high 21 points in the fourth quarter, having made 8 of 13 shots from the floor and 3 of 3 from the foul line.
Nunn, who also had 4 assists, was humble in victory after claiming the player of the game award. “Credit to my teammates for getting it done,” he said in a courtside interview. “Maccabi had the momentum and the lead but then in the fourth quarter we got some stops and the victory. Everybody is confident in what they are doing and the offense comes from getting those stops.”
Lessort did his thing in crunch time, racking up defensive rebounds and doing offensive damage in the paint to finish on 18 points and 6 boards, while Juancho Hernangomez also emerged as a trump card up Ataman’s sleeve. The Spanish big man netted 10 of his 12 points in the second half, including a huge triple which game Panathinaikos a decisive 89-82 lead in the closing stages.
It was another tough loss for Maccabi and its head coach Oded Kattash, the fifth in the last six games, but the former guard who played for both clubs and also coached Panathinaikos during his illustrious career, had no complaints about his team’s effort.
“The players are exhausted but I like the way we performed and fought,” he said. “We were there and I am proud of the way we played. We played the right way and put ourselves in a position to win the game, but it’s not the first time we ran out of energy in the second half.”
The schedule will not get any easier for Maccabi as it hosts Olympiacos in Round 10 while Panathinaikos visits Virtus Segafredo Bologna.