The American guard delivered in crunch time for the third straight game
Kendrick Nunn integral once again as Panathinaikos downed ASVEL
Article
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 27 of 34
Group Regular Season
l
l
l
l
w
w
w
w
l
w
When Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens 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 came up big again.
Nunn poured in a game-high 24 points in Panathinaikos’s hard-fought 93-96 victory at LDLC ASVEL Villeurbannne, 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.
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.
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.
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.