By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
If Panathinaikos managed to bounce back from -12 points to grab an important first victory in Game 1 of their EuroLeague Playoffs series against Anadolu Efes, most of the credit is Juancho Hernangomez’s.
The Spanish forward set a new club record in a EuroLeague playoff game with 16 rebounds and 40 PIR, overcoming Stephane Lasme and Dimitris Diamantidis. He also scored 20 points over 7/7 from two-point range in 39:04 minutes of action, receiving the MVP of the Game Award.
However, in the post-game flash interview, he avoided taking credit. “Our MVP is Kendrick [Nunn], we follow him. He did a great job finding the extra passes,” Hernangomez praised PAO’s #22.
“He had a great pass to Jerian [Grant] to close the game. That was huge. We have a lot of talent, everybody can step up. Even players on the bench can be ready because it’s a long season.”
“We never give up, this team is really dangerous, they play really well with fast breaks. To be honest, we didn’t play well. Let’s watch the film and let’s get back to the second game,” he also added, eyeing the second matchup against Ergin Ataman’s former team, in less than 48 hours.
Jerian Grant praised the heart of the champion. “[In the fourth], we made a couple more shots. We were missing everything early on. But we stayed focused: that’s what championship teams do,” he commented.
“We know what happened last year when we lost Game 1, we didn’t want to get back in that predicament. We came out and got the win,” he added. “We have to make more shots. I think our defense was decent, but we can be better. But that’s a good team. It will be tough,” Grant also commented on Game 3.
PHOTO CREDIT: Euronikissi