By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Kendrick Nunn at OAKA is a sight to be seen in a city full of ancient masterpieces.
And that was evident in Panathinaikos‘ 104-89 win over Anadolu Efes as Nunn was simply unstoppable.
After scoring six points in the first half, he finished the night with 36, his second-best scoring performance in the competition.
His personal best is 39 points, and when he was asked if he was trying to break it, he replied: “I am not thinking about it. I just want to make correct reads, play with confidence, feed from the crowd’s energy, and help my team”.
Cedi Osman added 20 points, Juancho Hernangomez had 14 plus eight rebounds and Kostas Sloukas was also instrumental with 13 points, nine assists, and no turnovers.
Thanks to this result, Panathinaikos with a 16-10 record remains in the fourth spot of the standings, tied with Crvena Zvezda and Bayern Munich.
Darius Thompson with 14 points led a balanced effort by Efes, which couldn’t close the game as they wanted, missing against Shane Larkin.
Efes at 12-14 is tied with Zalgiris for the 12th spot in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings.
Nunn better
Efes had a stellar start in the game, leading 21-17 after the first period and building an 11-point lead (32-21) early in the second. That was the cue for Panathinaikos to wake up and tie the score at 37, ultimately closing the first half up by two (49-47).
With his first three of the game and one more basket, Nunn gave Panathinaikos a 54-49 advantage early in the second half. However, Jordan Nwora tied the score at 61 and Darius Thomas gave Efes again a three-point lead (64-61).
With Nunn scoring 18 points in the period, Panathinaikos got the lead back (73-70) and the hosts entered the last quarter up by two (75-73).
Nunn again extended the lead to four (77-73) and, with one more big three, gave his team a seven-point advantage (90-83) with three minutes left. He missed his next shot, but Osman with an offensive rebound and a layup, made it a nine-point game (92-83), and there was no coming back for Efes after that.
Osman with a three against his old team pushed the lead to 10 (95-85) and everything was decided.