Name: Kendrick Nunn: 'We've played well at home, we have to play the same on the road'
Channel: Euroleague Basketball

Turkish Airlines EuroLeague fans, we have our 27th winner in this season's EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge! Alican Utku Ozler beat everyone else in Round 27 with his team 'Polestar', which had a Fantasy Challenge score of 245.00.

EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge Round 27 winner

Turkish Airlines EuroLeague fans, we have our 27th winner in this season's [EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge](https://euroleaguefantasy.euroleaguebasketball.net/)! Alican Utku Ozler beat everyone else in Round 27 with his team 'Polestar', which had a Fantasy Challenge score of 245.00.

Alican had the following starting lineup: TJ Shorts of Paris Basketball as team captain, Sylvain Francisco of Zalgiris Kaunas, Mario Hezonja of Real Madrid, Justin Anderson of FC Barcelona and Joel Bolomboy of Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade. His sixth man was FC Bayern Munich's Carsen Edwards. The rest of the bench consisted of Barcelona's Joel Parra, Mouhamet Diouf of Virtus Segafredo Bologna, well as Kendrick Nunn and Konstantinos Mitoglou of Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens. His team's head coach was Anadolu Efes Istanbul play-caller Luca Banchi.

The prize for finishing first in Round 27 is a free VIP Euroleague TV subscription for the 2025-26 season, so congratulations, Alican!

Marko Djukic and his team 'Kughat' remains the leader of the [EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge](https://euroleaguefantasy.euroleaguebasketball.net/) overall standings with 4,587.09 points.

Trades are now open for Round 28. Remember, four trades are allowed before each round until the end of the regular season. You can either trade up to four players, or a head coach and three players.

The first game in Round 28 tips off on Wednesday, March 5, as Paris Basketball hosts AS Monaco at 20:30 CET. That game marks the next round's deadline.

Make new teams now or improve your existing ones and try to become our next round winner!

EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge offers weekly prizes to the top team manager. 

For the third straight game, Kendrick Nunn stepped up in crunch time to give Panathinaikos BC the win, this time at LDLC ASVEL.

Kendrick Nunn integral once again as Panathinaikos downed ASVEL

When [Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/panathinaikos-aktor-athens/pan/) saw its big lead melt away at the Astroballe on Friday night, the reigning Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion knew it could still count on its main offensive weapon. And for the third straight game, [Kendrick Nunn](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/kendrick-nunn/012774/) came up big again. 

Nunn poured in a game-high 24 points in [Panathinaikos’s hard-fought 93-96 victory at LDLC ASVEL Villeurbannne](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/panathinaikos-fights-past-asvel-93-96-to-grab-first-road-win-of-2025/), including hitting 4-of-4 free throws in the final 45 seconds. He also drained a big three-pointer to give the Greens an 82-88 lead with two minutes to go. 

“It was a tough finish. We had our runs throughout the game but they came back. Basketball is a game of runs. It came down to the last 3-4 minutes of the game. We got it done. It was a team effort.  We came out on top,” said Nunn after the team snapped a three-game road losing streak for its first EuroLeague away win since December 27. 

The best plays of Kendrick Nunn during Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens's Round 27 win at LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne.

Kendrick Nunn highlights vs. ASVEL

Nunn seemed unfazed by the national-team break as he continued on right where he left off. 

In Round 25, Nunn scored 13 of his 17 points in the final 6 minutes, including the game winning free throw with 1.1 seconds left, [in a 91-90 home win over Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/panathinaikos-edges-fenerbahce-91-90-in-a-titanic-tussle/). 

And in the last game before the break, Nunn exploded for 36 points and a career-high 37 PIR [in a 104-89 win over Anadolu Efes Istanbul](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/kendrick-nunn-powered-panathinaikos-brushes-aside-efes-104-89/).  

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Final Score <a href="https://twitter.com/LDLCASVEL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LDLCASVEL</a> - <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/paobcaktor?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#paobcaktor</a> 93-96<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeTheGreens?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeTheGreens</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LiveTheGreenMagic?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LiveTheGreenMagic</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Club1908?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Club1908</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OneClubOneApp?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OneClubOneApp</a> <a href="https://t.co/GeAIp1sGa7">pic.twitter.com/GeAIp1sGa7</a></p>&mdash; Panathinaikos BC (@Paobcgr) <a href="https://twitter.com/Paobcgr/status/1895601072494035188?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

In Friday night's road game at ASVEL, Panathinaikos had multiple double-digit leads but watched as the hosts fought their way back into the game. 

"We had the chance many times to break the game open – \[we were winning by\] more than 14, 15 points. But we missed shots and made turnovers. But we found a way to win,” coach Ergin Ataman said. 

One of the main reasons for that was Nunn, who continued his tremendous season with another big finish. 

Game News

The American guard delivered in crunch time for the third straight game 


LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne v Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens (2025-02-28T20:00:00.000Z)

Panathinaikos BC guard Kendrick Nunn spoke to EuroLeague TV after his team beat LDLC ASVEL in Round 27 of the 2024-25 EuroLeague season.

Kendrick Nunn: 'We've played well at home, we have to play the same on the road'

Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens guard Kendrick Nunn spoke to EuroLeague TV after his team beat LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne in Round 27 of the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne-Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens | RS Round 27 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

With Baskonia looking to mount a late comeback at KK Partizan, Isiaha Mike came to the fore to get his team over the line.

Isiaha Mike stepped up in crunch time for Partizan against Baskonia

[Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/partizan-mozzart-bet-belgrade/par/) took a big step towards securing a postseason spot in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague with [an 86-73 home win over Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/partizan-subdues-baskonia-86-73-to-keep-rolling/), improving to 15-12 and moving up to eighth in the standings after blowing hot and cold against the visitors.

Having opened up a 45-20 lead late in the first half on the back of a whopping 27-2 run, Partizan saw its advantage slashed to 74-69 midway through the fourth quarter before [Isiaha Mike](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/isiaha-mike/011836/) made a pair of clutch threes and forced the battling Baskonia into submission.

The result allowed Partizan to avoid what would have been another costly slip-up on its home court after losing to struggling Virtus Segafredo Bologna and LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne earlier in the regular season, as Baskonia threatened to stage a stunning upset.

Mike, who came off the bench and did a fine and thankless job at the other end of the court in the first half when Partizan ramped up its defense, enabled the home fans inside Belgrade Arena to breathe a collective sigh of relief as he scored all his 8 points late in the game.

Mike’s contribution complemented that of player of the game [Carlik Jones](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/carlik-jones/013369/), who racked up 21 points to go with 6 boards and as many assists, and Sterling Brown as the Serbian team’s sharpshooter added 19 points, 4 boards and 3 assists.

Jones praised Partizan’s first-half defense and Mike’s all-round effort after the latter had struggled with his recent form, with Partizan’s offense ground to a halt late in the third quarter and early in the fourth.

“Basketball is a game of runs,” Jones said in his postgame comments. “They (Baskonia) had a tough first half and credit to our defense as we made a lot of stops. In the second half we got away from that a little bit but we stayed locked in.

“Tonight, Mike showed up and he played great, he did all the small things like guarding and rebounding and that’s all you can ask for. Then, in crunch time when the chips were down, he was in the right spots and knocked down some big shots.”

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="pt" dir="ltr">&quot;VOLIM GA!&quot;🖤🤍<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KKPartizan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KKPartizan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroLeague?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroLeague</a> <a href="https://t.co/BNefjuP7Mc">pic.twitter.com/BNefjuP7Mc</a></p>&mdash; KK Partizan Mozzart Bet (@PartizanBC) <a href="https://twitter.com/PartizanBC/status/1895600225517257187?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Partizan next faces a pair of tough road games against Olympiacos Piraeus and Barcelona, prompting Brown to emphasize how vital it was for the Serbian outfit to make home-court advantage count in the battle to stay in the postseason picture.

“It’s a huge win as we’re now taking it one game at a time and not looking too far ahead,” he said. “We’ve definitely got to take care of business on our home court as we’ve dropped a couple of games earlier this season. We’ve got a couple of challenging matchups on the road coming up, so we’ve now got to focus on that.”    

The forward came up big in the fourth quarter after the hosts saw their big lead trimmed

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade v Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (2025-02-28T19:30:00.000Z)

Panathinaikos BC pulled out a 93-96 win at LDLC ASVEL in Round 27, led by 24 points from Kendrick Nunn.

Panathinaikos fights past ASVEL, 93-96, to grab first road win of 2025

Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens finally collected its first road victory of 2025 by fending off LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 93-96 to avoid a slip-up after the return from the national-team break. Panathinaikos led by as many as 17 points but had to sweat it out in the final minute to snap a three-game road losing streak for its first away win since December 27 and a 17-10 record.

Kendrick Nunn paced Panathinaikos with 24 points, Juancho Hernangomez had 15 points, Konstantinos Mitoglou poured in 14 points and Kostas Sloukas picked up 12 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Lorenzo Brown chipped in 8 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists after scoring 0 points in his last four games and six of the last eight games. 

ASVEL dropped its fourth straight game for an 11-16 record – and a major setback in its hopes to fight for a play-in spot. Melvin Ajinca buried 6 three-pointers for 18 points for ASVEL, which had won its last two home games. Neal Sako had 17 points and Theo Maledon tallied 10 points and 11 assists in the loss.

Game Videos

Panathinaikos opened the game in style with a Wenyen Gabriel dunk. Brown added two baskets as the guests took a 2-10 lead. Paris Lee and Maledon both hit triples as ASVEL knotted the game at 12-12. Nunn sandwiched two triples between a three-pointer from Sloukas in a 2-13 surge, with the Greens going 14-25 ahead. The score was 16-25 after 10 minutes. 

The surge continued in the second quarter, with Mitoglou hitting a triple and converting an and-one to make it 16-33. ASVEL needed nearly 2 minutes to score, and back-to-back three-pointers from Ajinca trimmed the gap to 24-35. Hernangomez answered with four points and Panathinaikos looked like it had regained control at 28-41. Ajinca hit again from deep, though, and Nando De Colo scored six points as the hosts reduced the deficit just four points at 44-48. Panathinaikos punched back with the final six points of the first half to lead 44-54 at the break.

ASVEL had the better start to the second half with the first five points to make it a five-point game. Cedi Osman delivered two scores at the other end and Panathinaikos was back ahead by 12 points, 50-62. A Jerian Grant triple increased the cushion to 15 points, 52-67. De Colo tried to get ASVEL back close with seven points, and it was 63-71 after 30 minutes.

ASVEL kept up the pressure with Shaquille Harrison’s three-point play and big dunk, followed by two more Ajinca triples to give the home side its first lead 76-75. After Grant and Ajinca swapped long balls, Panathinaikos held ASVEL to just one score in three minutes to lead 81-83. ASVEL’s Andre Roberson was called for an unsportsmanlike foul, resulting in two Sloukas free throws and a Nunn three-pointer for an 82-88 lead with 2 minutes left. De Colo and Harrison both drained triples to make things interesting, but Nunn converted four of four free throws and Sloukas hit twice from the line in the final 45 seconds to lock up the win.

Kendrick Nunn led a balanced effort with 24 points.  

KK Partizan guard Carlik Jones spoke to EuroLeague TV after his team beat Baskonia in Round 27 of the 2024-25 EuroLeague season.

Carlik Jones: 'The team trusts me, the coaches trust me, the fans trust me...'

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade guard Carlik Jones spoke to EuroLeague TV after his team beat Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in Round 27 of the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade-Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz | RS Round 27 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

KK Partizan notched its fifth win in the last six games by downing Baskonia 86-73 in Round 27.

Partizan subdues Baskonia, 86-73, to keep rolling

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade celebrated its fifth win in the last six games and stayed on course to reach the postseason in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague after Carlik Jones and Sterling Brown engineered an 86-73 home win over Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Jones poured in a game-high 21 points and Brown chipped in with 19, with several other players contributing in various ways. Tyrique Jones racked up 7 points and 9 boards, Isiaha Mike chipped in with 9 points while Vanja Marinkovic, Iffe Lundberg and Brandon Davies netted 8 apiece for the home team.

At the other end, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Nikos Rogkavopoulos paced Baskonia with 11 points each while Luka Samanic and Trent Forrest scored 10 apiece for Baskonia, whose valiant second-half fightback fell short.

The opening stages produced an evenly balanced contest as Brown netted 11 of Partizan’s 17 points while Baskonia thrived on offensive boards, with the teams tied 18-18 late in the first quarter. Roared on by a fervent home crowd, Partizan then conjured a staggering 27-2 run to open up a 45-20 lead shortly before halftime.

The home team took much better care of the ball in the first half as Partizan dished out 8 assists and committed a single turnover, while Baskonia managed only 3 assists and turned the ball over 8 times against an aggressive Partizan defense.

Baskonia looked a different outfit in the second half as the Basque team opened the third quarter with a 2-10 run and followed it up with a 0-8 streak late in the period after Partizan had responded. Lundberg calmed Partizan’s nerves with a buzzer-beating triple ahead of the final 10 minutes, giving the hosts a 63-51 advantage.

However, Baskonia kept chipping away at Partizan in the fourth and slashed the deficit to 74-69 before Mike sank a three and then another one to make it 82-71, which all but sealed the victory. There was time for the jugular, too, as Mike capped an excellent individual performance in the fourth quarter with a late slam dunk, sparking loud celebrations among the home fans inside Belgrade Arena.

The Serbian team almost spilled a 25-point lead before moving up a gear in the home stretch

Smits skies for a poster-dunk! Motorola Magic Moment of the Night

Anadolu Efes Istanbul v ALBA Berlin (2025-02-28T17:30:00.000Z)

Olympiacos BC got contributions from all 11 players who stepped onto the floor during a comfortable 70-92 win at Virtus Bologna, a good sign heading into the final weeks of the regular season.

Olympiacos showed depth and unselfishness in blowout of Virtus

It’s not news to say that [Olympiacos Piraeus](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/olympiacos-piraeus/oly/) boasts one of the deepest rosters in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague this season. Yet, when this depth is at full display on the floor, opponents find it tough to contain the best offense (87.9 PPG) in the competition, and Friday was one of those nights for [Virtus Segafredo Bologna](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/virtus-segafredo-bologna/vir/).

Olympiacos aces [Sasha Vezenkov](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/sasha-vezenkov/003469/) and [Evan Fournier](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/evan-fournier/013380/) may have not stood out this time, but each of the 11 players who stepped on the court contributed their bit in [the 70-92 victory at Virtus Segafredo Arena](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/olympiacos-cruises-past-virtus-70-92/).

In fact, all 11 players got their names on the scoresheet, with six of them netting in double digits. Vezenkov, [Nikola Milutinov](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/nikola-milutinov/003941/), [Alec Peters](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/alec-peters/008829/), Fournier and [Moustapha Fall](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/moustapha-fall/008811/) scored 12 each, while [Kostas Papanikolaou](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/kostas-papanikolaou/001255/) recorded 11 points. No Olympiacos player bar Vezenkov featured for more than 23 minutes, with the starters slightly outscoring the bench 49-43.

“We have a really deep bench,” coach Georgios Bartzokas told EuroLeague TV after the game. “We have quality players in every position. It’s about everyone coming in to fulfil his role, be unselfish and play for the team.”

After an extraordinary first quarter that ended 14-34, Olympiacos took a 29-54 lead into the second half. Virtus bounced back and outscored the guests 25-14 in the third, but the Greeks demonstrated their depth and remained calm to finish it off in the fourth.

“Our team is full of guys who can step up, make big shots, make big plays and get us back going,” Peters told EuroLeague TV. “We had multiple guys make plays at the right time for us to go ahead and win the game.”

No EuroLeague team averages more than Olympiacos’s 20.9 assists per game, with Bartzokas’s side recording as many as 26 dimes at Virtus. 

“We had a lot of assists, 26, we had 13 or 14 more rebounds and tried to involve all the players in our offensive game,” Bartzokas noted in the postgame press conference.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🙏🏽 No Words Can Describe How Grateful We Are!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TogetherWeFight?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TogetherWeFight</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OlympiacosBC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OlympiacosBC</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreOlympiacos?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreOlympiacos</a> <a href="https://t.co/Ird0Ug1Rn3">pic.twitter.com/Ird0Ug1Rn3</a></p>&mdash; Olympiacos B.C. (@Olympiacos_BC) <a href="https://twitter.com/Olympiacos_BC/status/1895596777908420856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Having added [Saben Lee](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/saben-lee/013389/) to a star-studded roster while awaiting [Keenan Evans](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/keenan-evans/011218/)’s long-awaited return from injury, Olympiacos has set its sights on one prize.

“We want \[to win the\] EuroLeague,” Fall stressed. “I think it’s pretty obvious \[that this is the goal\]. There are a lot of teams that compete for that, but I think that we have a good chance this year to be able to be successful.”

Olympiacos may become the first team to clinch a playoff spot with a potential home victory over [Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/partizan-mozzart-bet-belgrade/par/) next week. And the Reds' depth could be key once again as they bid to avenge [Round 12’s 78-70 loss at Belgrade Arena](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/partizan-powers-past-olympiacos-78-70/).

The Reds recorded 26 assists, with all 11 players who stepped on the floor getting on the scoresheet

Virtus Segafredo Bologna v Olympiacos Piraeus (2025-02-28T19:00:00.000Z)

Mike gets airborne! Motorola Magic Moment

 Harrison hammers it home! Motorola Magic Moment 

Olympiacos BC forward Alec Peters spoke to EuroLeague TV after his team beat Virtus Bologna in Round 27 of the 2024-25 EuroLeague season.

Alec Peters: 'Our team is full of guys who can step up'

Olympiacos Piraeus forward Alec Peters spoke to EuroLeague TV after his team beat Virtus Segafredo Bologna in Round 27 of the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

Virtus Segafredo Bologna-Olympiacos Piraeus | RS Round 27 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

Olympiacos BC had a comfortable night in Round 27 as it beat Virtus Bologna 70-92, having held a comfortable lead for the majority of the contest.

Olympiacos cruises past Virtus, 70-92

Olympiacos Piraeus grabbed its 10th win in the last 11 games by thrashing Virtus Segafredo Bologna 70-92 on Friday night. The hosts took a double-digit lead in the first quarter and maintained it throughout the game to secure their fourth victory in a row. Olympiacos improved its record to 20-7, while Virtus registered its fifth straight loss and dropped to 7-20. 

Six Olympiacos players scored in double figures, with Sasha Vezenkov, Nikola Milutinov, Alec Peters, Evan Fournier and Moustapha Fall netting 12 each and Kostas Papanikolaou pouring in 11. For Virtus, Isaia Cordinier scored 15 points and Daniel Hackett bagged 10 in a losing effort.

Nicola Akele opened the scoring from inside, but Nigel Williams-Goss, Fall, Papanikolaou, Fournier and Vezenkov all got off the mark to give Olympiacos a commanding 2-17 lead midway through the first quarter. Cordinier ended Olympiacos’s 0-17 run with an off-balanced jumper, but Milutinov netted 6 points off the bench to restore a 6-23 cushion. Then, Vezenkov, Giannoulis Larentzakis and Fournier scored from deep to make it 14-34 after 10 minutes.

Fall and Alessandro Pajola traded baskets before triples by Peters and Tyler Dorsey gave Olympiacos an 18-42 lead in the second period. Three straight buckets from Fall stretched Olympiacos’s lead to 21-48. Dorsey drilled one from downtown and Peters drained a buzzer-beating jumper, but Cordinier sank Virtus’s first triple of the game, slightly trimming the deficit to 29-54 – the largest lead Olympiacos has ever recorded in a first half.

Hackett opened the third quarter with a three, but four straight points by Fournier restored a 34-58 cushion. Triples by Hackett and Akele were followed by a Rayjon Tucker slam that cut the difference to 42-60. Morgan went 2 for 2 from the line to extend Virtus’s run to 14-2, slashing the deficit to 48-60. Luca Vildoza answered with a corner triple before Vezenkov netted one of his own, but Momo Diouf converted inside to bring the hosts within 54-68 heading into the fourth quarter.

McKissic and Peters scored a bucket each before four points from Vezenkov provided a 56-76 cushion for the visitors. Virtus made one last push with Justin Holiday and Ante Zizic netting inside, but Peters drilled a corner three and Papanikolaou added two points to his tally from inside to make it 64-88, practically finishing the game off.

Six players netted in double digits for the visitors

Tyrique Jones on the alley-oop! Motorola Magic Moment

Anadolu Efes showed what it is capable of during its convincing Round 27 win over ALBA Berlin, but coach Luca Banchi still expects more from his team.

Efes ‘still looking for its best level’, despite crushing ALBA

There were many reasons for [Anadolu Efes Istanbul](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/anadolu-efes-istanbul/ist/) to worry ahead of Friday’s game against [ALBA Berlin](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/alba-berlin/ber/), but coach Luca Banchi’s team went out and registered [a no-doubt-about-it 98-73 triumph](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/efes-blows-past-alba-98-73/).

The worries were because Efes was in a must-win situation against a team playing with nothing to lose, all while facing uncertainties about the availability of [Shane Larkin](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/shane-larkin/007200/) and [Dan Oturu](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/dan-oturu/012788/). Moreover, the game was coming after a two-week break, with Thursday’s outcomes showing the unpredictability that Turkish Airlines EuroLeague games carry.

“It’s never easy after three weeks off,” Coach Banchi said in a EuroLeague TV interview after the game. “The results yesterday proved how difficult it is to rediscover the rhythm, and ALBA is the worst opponent in this situation.”

However, after some first-quarter struggles, all those worries just about disappeared in the second quarter as Efes built a double-digit lead and never looked back.

“It was an all-round great effort by the whole team, I hope we can just keep going,” said [Jordan Nwora](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/jordan-nwora/013363/), who led Efes with 18 points and 7 rebounds.

He was one of many players who stepped up as Efes had five guys score in double figures, while Larkin and [Darius Thompson](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/darius-thompson/011078/) combined for 15 assists.

It was a feel-good win that improved Efes to a 13-14 record, one win behind a 10th-placed [Real Madrid](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/real-madrid/mad/), but Coach Banchi refuses to look at it from that point of view.

“This is important to find team identity,” Banchi stressed. “It is not about the goals, it’s a matter of talking about a team still looking for its best level. It’s about becoming a better team, a more consistent team, and a more accountable team.”

Still, the goal is to reach the postseason and the win against ALBA was the step in the right direction. The key was, according to [Vincent Poirier](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/vincent-poirier/004887/), on the defensive end.

“We helped each other on the court, that’s the most important thing. On the defensive side, we always had someone ready to help, that should be there every game.”

Poirier, who finished with 14 points and 6 rebounds, stressed the importance of intensity and aggressiveness.

“We are still fighting, every game is like a final for us to get in the play-in and the playoffs,” the big man said.

“We have seven more games, and every night we have to go out with the same energy and the same desire to prove ourselves,” Banchi added.

Efes is now 10-0 against ALBA on its home floor this century
