By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos AKTOR lost Game 3 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague in Belgrade, and Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv grabbed a 2-1 lead in the series before another match in Aleksandar Nikolic Hall.
After the game, standout Panathinaikos player Kendrick Nunn spoke about some referee decisions in the dying moments.
“We started off bad and fought our way back into the game. The last three-four minutes got some questionable calls, and it went their way,” Nunn said.
He explained further, emphasizing that Matthias Lessort’s block on Lorenzo Brown was legitimate and that Josh Nebo was out of bounds after an offensive rebound but that the officials didn’t call it.
“We can watch it again and see. Clear block on Matthias with Brown at the rim. Stop the play and jump ball; they get the tip. Nebo gets offensive rebounds. Toe on the line, referee looking at it, no call. At the end of the day, we lost this game. We gotta come back strong on Thursday to give ourselves a chance to win the series.”
However, Panathinaikos is not backing down, aiming to return the series to Athens for Game 5.
“We came in with a mentality to win this one, so the mentality stays the same. Backs against the wall now. I’m pretty sure all the guys are locking in; we’re gonna keep fighting. It’s a series; it’s not over. We’ve got another game on Thursday. The goal is to win that one and go for a game back in OAKA.”
Game 4 in Belgrade is going to be an interesting one.
“We have competitive guys in the locker room. We believe in ourselves, and we are going to come out fighting. We are not going to lay down easy and let them beat us; it’s going to be a fight,” Kendrick Nunn concluded.