The Panathinaikos guard displayed an array of offensive skills to lead the champs against Efes
Vintage Kendrick Nunn showcased his class again
Article
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 26 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens hit top gear in crunch time to earn a pair of vital home wins in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, which left the defending champion sitting pretty in fourth place with eight rounds left in the regular season.
Tuesday’s heart-stopping 91-90 defeat of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul was followed by a masterclass 104-89 victory against Anadolu Efes Istanbul, in which Kendrick Nunn shined as he displayed a vast repertoire of offensive skills.
The 29-year-old shooting guard finished the game on 36 points, having sank 30 in a breathtaking second half as he mixed lethal long-range shooting with some dazzling layups which put Efes to the sword after the visitors held their own for three quarters.
Nunn, who struggled for form recently, came 3 points shy of the career-high 39 he scored in December’s 103-74 home win over EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, when he did most of the damage in the first half.
It looked like Nunn would have a patchy night as he netted a mere 6 points in the first half against Efes before he catapulted himself to another level after the break, shooting 4 of 5 from deep in the third quarter and keeping his foot on the gas in the fourth.
Overall, Nunn was 7 of 10 from downtown, 5 of 11 from inside the arc and a perfect 7 of 7 from the line, once again demonstrating that he is in a league of his own in Europe after being instrumental for much of this season and last, when he lifted the trophy with Panathinaikos in the continent’s premier club competition.
In his postgame comments, Nunn played down the individual goal of setting new personal records as Panathinaikos aims to win back-to-back titles after Efes did the same in 2021 and 2022.
“We prepared ourselves for a big double week and we got it done,” he said courtside.” We took care at home and now we’ve got to focus on the road. I am not thinking about [my career-high], I am just trying to make the right plays, feeding off my energy to help the team.”
Game Videos
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Dozier's huge dunk! Motorola Magic Moment of the Night
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Coach Ergin Ataman, the architect of that double feat by Efes before he joined the Greens in 2023, acknowledged that the unstoppable Nunn was a menace all over, but also singled out veteran point guard Kostas Sloukas, who pulled the playmaking skills by dishing out 9 assists to go with 13 points.
“Sloukas was great in terms of organization and of course Kendrick is an amazing offensive player,” the Turkish tactician said. “When he gets the confidence, he is very difficult to stop.
“We played good defense and perfect basketball overall in the fourth quarter. We won two very difficult games in two days so congratulations to my players, they deserve to rest tomorrow.”
The 35-year old Sloukas, a captain who leads by example and arguably the Greek giant’s most consistent performer lately, in turn heaped praise on Juancho Hernangomez and Cedi Osman, the latter pouring 20 points in his most impressive performance of the season.
“We had two must-win games against a pair of great Turkish teams and having struggled against Efes in the first half, we played good defense in the second with Kendrick leading us at the other end with 30 points,” Sloukas said. “Great hustle by my teammates, Cedi did a great job at both ends while Juancho picked up some crucial rebounds and also came up big when he made some clutch shots.”