The captivating playoff series is headed for a final showdown in Athens with a Final Four berth at stake
Moment of truth beckons for Panathinaikos and Efes
Article
3 Mins read
The Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoff series between reigning champion Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens and former holders Anadolu Efes Istanbul has offered everything basketball fans could ask for and the rivals will lock horns one more time in a decisive battle.
With the series tied 2-2, the two teams face each other in Game 5 in Athens on Tuesday and if the opening four chapters are anything to go by, another knife-edged encounter is on the cards. Each game went down to the wire and none was decided by more than four points, with Efes coming out on top 85-82 in Game 4 on Friday to force the tiebreaker at the imposing OAKA Altion, where Panathinaikos will have home-court advantage.
It could be a big factor as the matchup with Efes is almost a carbon copy of the Greek giant’s series against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv last season, when Panathinaikos won Game 5 on home court, 81-72, before claiming its seventh EuroLeague title at the Final Four in Berlin.
Just like in the current battle against the Turkish outfit, the Greens shared the spoils with Maccabi both at home and away, winning one and losing one at either venue before capitalizing on a fervent atmosphere the club’s fans create in their iconic gym.
It will be the same this time but Efes head coach Luca Banchi was confident that his team was braced for an epic clash after defying the odds to get this far in the first place, as his men made a late surge in the regular season to reach the playoffs.
Banchi also hailed the quality both teams have produced in the opening four games, with the walking wounded of Efes, Vincent Poirier and PJ Dozier, going the extra mile to help their team grind out a lifeline win in Game 4.
“Another intense game between two teams who’ve already proved what level they are on,” Banchi told the postgame press conference.
“I wish for another great chapter in this playoff in Game 5, but now I just want to congratulate my players for saying calm in yet another do-or-die game. We got here by winning the last eight regular season games and fighting back from a 2-1 deficit in the series against Panathinaikos, which shows character and personality within the team.
“Both teams will invest every effort to win the decisive game after they recuperate. It will be about controlling the emotions and playing the best basketball possible more than about strategy and the best team will celebrate in the end,” added the Italian tactician, who took over at Efes in January and sent shockwaves through the EuroLeague when he propelled the club into the postseason after making a 2-5 start.
Game Videos
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Follow the Efes-Panathinaikos Game 4 post-game press conference
- 02:05
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Shane Larkin: 'Big game from everybody'
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Anadolu Efes Istanbul-Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens | Playoffs Game 4 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:17
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Elijah Bryant with a big three! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:10
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Nunn with a deep three! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:13
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Yurtseven with a sublime dunk! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:08
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Juancho rocks the rim! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:14
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Yurtseven on the alley oop! Motorola Magic Moment
- 01:22
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Kendrick Nunn: 'I'm just glad it's not my tooth!'
- 02:06
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Konstantinos Mitoglou: 'We expect a tougher game in the next game'
- 00:28
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A monster dunk from Oturu! Motorola Magic Moment of the Night
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Anadolu Efes Istanbul-Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens | Playoffs Game 3 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:25
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Crucial block by Juancho! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:28
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A fine dunk from Oturu! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:11
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Cedi Osman steals and dunks! Motorola Magic Moment
- 02:40
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Masterpiece on the Mediterranean
- 01:34
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Shane Larkin: 'We just had to stay poised'
- 01:01
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Vincent Poirier: 'We finished until the end'
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Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens-Anadolu Efes Istanbul | PO Game 2 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:32
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Larkin taking the lead for good! Motorola Magic Moment of the Night
- 00:12
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Kostas Sloukas with a crazy buzzer-beater! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:09
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Oturu with a mighty dunk! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:21
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Oturu with the alley-oop! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:12
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Jerian Grant shows big hustle! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:12
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Poirier with the put-back slam! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:08
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Poirier with a fierce small-dunk! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:57
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Juancho Hernangomez: 'We have a lot of talent, everybody can step up'
- 00:44
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Jerian Grant: 'That's what championship teams do'
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Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens-Anadolu Efes Istanbul | PO Game-1 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:24
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Yurtseven at it again! Motorola Magic Moment of the Night
- 00:11
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Grant seals the win! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:11
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Juancho flies to the rim! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:16
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Larkin and Dozier conjure some magic! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:10
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Oturu with a strong dunk! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:13
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Poirier rips the rim! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:09
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Yurtseven on the alley-oop! Motorola Magic Moment
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Kendrick NUNN Got MIC’D UP and SCORED BIG | AS Monaco - Panathinaikos
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The 7th Star - Trailer
- 00:52
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Kendrick Nunn: 'The one I'm most proud of is the 10 assists'
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Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens-Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade | RS Round 34 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:24
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Poirier with a big dunk! Motorola Magic Moment of the Night
- 02:30
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Shane Larkin: 'We've had to win every single game to get here'
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Anadolu Efes Istanbul-Zalgiris Kaunas | RS Round 34 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:16
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Nwora with a massive dunk! Motorola Magic Moment
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EuroLeague 25 Moments: When Panathinaikos took Virtus’s crown in 2002
- 00:52
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Vincent Poirier: 'Really proud of the team and what we've accomplished so far'
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Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade-Anadolu Efes Istanbul | RS Round 33 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:12
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A sublime alley oop from Poirier! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:09
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A ferocious dunk from Thompson! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:41
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Kendrick Nunn: 'We came here with one job: to win'
Panathinaikos will hope that its top performer and regular-season MVP Kendrick Nunn can find his mojo again when his team needs it most, after struggling in three of the opening four games amid the relentless hustle the competition’s top scorer has faced.
Apart from Game 3, when Nunn excelled with 25 points, the former NBA guard was given a roasting by his markers in the other three. Nunn combined for 13-of-44 shooting from the floor (29.5%) and a mere 6-of-20 from deep (30.5%), his favorite hunting ground, in Games 1, 2 and 4. In Friday’s loss, he was also 1 of 8 from inside after being scoreless from the field in the first half as he only made 3 out of 4 free throws.
Nunn will want to replicate his Game 3 performance when he gave up excessive shooting from three-point range for drives to the basket which produced a barrage of layups, as he finished on 9-of-13 from inside and 7-of-7 from the foul line.
Some of his influential teammates have also blown hot and cold, namely Juancho Hernangomez and Omer Yurtseven who took turns lifting Panathinaikos and then fizzing out in a series played at a torrid pace throughout.
Hernangomez produced a Game 1 masterclass when he racked up a career-high 20 points and 16 rebounds to help the Greens stage a fourth-quarter comeback for an 87-83 win, but was then reduced to a grand total of 4 points in the next two encounters.
The Spaniard bounced back with a solid display in Game 4, when he amassed 15 points and 7 boards, but playmakers Jerian Grant and Lorenzo Brown netted just 3 points between them as Efes applied relentless half-court pressure.
The game also ended on a sour note for Panathinaikos head coach Ergin Ataman, who walked out of the gym after an angry outburst at Efes fans who taunted him in the home stretch of a pulsating clash.
The Turkish tactician, who led Efes to successive EuroLeague titles in 2021 and 2022, gesticulated to the home faithful that he had covered the club in glory just a few years ago before he joined Panathinaikos last summer to engineer the Greek giant’s seventh title.
The controversy led to Ataman’s assistant Christos Serelis taking his boss’s place at the postgame press conference, where he elaborated why one of the competition’s most temperamental coaches did not turn up.
“He has a huge history with this club and he feels that some of them don’t respect him much,” Serelis told reporters before sharing his views on the hitherto action as well as what he expected in the tiebreaker.
“We knew it was going to be a very tough game against a very good team. We tried to win it on our defense just like in Game 3 but unfortunately we conceded some baskets from our own playbook down the stretch.
“All four games were decided by one or two possessions, Efes made some big shots today so we are headed for one more game in Athens. We will be ready 100 percent to win it and reach the Final Four.”