Kendrick Nunn was at his brilliant best, continuing his excellent form with a 27-point showing
Panathinaikos hands Bayern first-ever EuroLeague loss at SAP Garden, 69-80
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens became the first team to beat FC Bayern Munich at home as the reigning champion won a back-and-forth slugfest 69-80 in both teams' final game of 2024. Panathinaikos survived a game with 21 lead changes, deciding the contest with a 0-12 spurt in the final 4 minutes to improve to 11-7 and snap a three-game losing streak. Bayern dropped to 11-7 and now 8-1 at SAP Garden, its new home, as its offense struggled after having averaged 101.8 points in the last four home games.
Kendrick Nunn shined throughout for a game-high 27 points while Konstantinos Mitoglou had 15 points, Jerian Grant 14, Kostas Sloukas added 11 points and 8 assists, and new acquisition Wenyen Gabriel chipped in 6 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks. Andreas Obst made 6 three-points for 19 points, Johannes Voigtmann collected 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Devin Booker scored 14 points. The league’s leading scorer Carsen Edwards was held to 11 points – 9.7 points below his average.
Game Videos
Bayern started the game in great fashion, with Voigtmann picking up two baskets as the hosts went up 9-0. Panathinaikos needed more than 3 minutes to finally get on the scoreboard. A Sloukas triple trimmed the scoreline to 11-7. Booker added four more points and the Bayern cushion grew to 16-7 as the hosts' defense was holding strong. But Bayern’s offense dried up over the final 2 minutes, and Panathinaikos trailed just 16-13 after 10 minutes.
The Greens’ push continued to start the second quarter and new acquisition Wenyen Gabriel’s put.back dunk gave the guests their first lead at 16-17. Edwards ended the 0-10 Panathinaikos run with Bayern’s first score of the period. But Nunn made sure Panathinaikos kept going with 5 points, then Gabriel slammed down two more dunks to open a 20-30 cushion. After the Panathinaikos 4-23 run, Obst knocked down two triples to get Bayern back into the game and start a 16-2 surge to finish the first half and reclaim the lead, 36-32, going into the break.
Nunn scored the first five points of the second half to put Panathinaikos back ahead as the first of 11 lead changes – Obst making three triples and Nunn scoring five points before four Grant points for a 49-52 lead. Grant added a triple and the guests were up 51-55, only to see Bayern make it 53-55 after 30 minutes.
The back and forth continued in the final frame with four more lead changes, with Nunn hitting a third triple to put the Greens 58-63 ahead. And it was 61-66 after yet another Grant score. Bayern was not done, with Obst and Voigtmann knocking down back-to-back triples, and the home side was back on top 67-66. The champs punched right back with a 0-12 run thanks to four three-pointers over a stretch of 2:21 minutes to lead 67-78. Panathinaikos’s defense shut down Bayern the rest of the way as Ergin Ataman's men secured a big road win.