With their pack leader Kendrick Nunn stifled out, the Greens relied on their supporting cast to reach the Final Four
Team effort carried Panathinaikos to the Final Four
Članak
3 Min čitanja
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens will get a shot at winning back-to-back titles in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague after the reigning champs overpowered Anadolu Efes Istanbul 3-2 in an emotionally charged series which brought the best out of both teams.
Efes had defied the odds to reach the playoffs and then took the grueling matchup with Panathinaikos down to the wire, but the competition’s holder had more left in the tank in Game 5 and prevailed on the back of a vintage Cedi Osman performance.
All eyes were on the Greek giant’s top performer Kendrick Nunn, who headed into the series as the regular season’s MVP and top scorer, but the former Los Angeles Lakers guard misfired throughout except in Game 3, when he poured 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the floor.
In the wake of relentless hustle and airtight defense from his makers, Nunn made a mere 17 of 60 in the other four games, including 8 of 31 from downtown as he kept getting driven out of the danger zone time and again by a flurry of double-teams.
However, Nunn’s teammates stepped up to the plate when the push came to shove and Osman came to the fore in Game 5 with a career-high 28 points and 8 boards, lifting the Greens to a 75-67 win which booked a ticket for the 2025 Final Four in Abu Dhabi.
In Game 1, which Panathinaikos won 87-83, Juancho Hernangomez posted career highs of 20 points and 16 boards while Omer Yurtseven, Jerian Grant, Konstantinos Mitoglou and veteran Kostas Sloukas also contributed at various junctions to steer the Greens across the finish line.
Nunn was instrumental in Game 3, which the team’s head coach Ergin Ataman billed as the one that ultimately determined the outcome of the entire series.
Ataman also hailed Osman’s heroics in Game 5, as the 30-year-old forward scored 12 points in the first quarter and eight in the fourth, when Panathinaikos held off a strong Efes fightback after the home team’s offense had stalled for long spells in the second half.
“Winning Game 3 in Istanbul changed the series as it allowed us to keep home-court advantage and that gave us the confidence to start tonight’s game with amazing defense and a barrage of fast-break points,” Ataman told the post-game press conference.
“Cedi had an amazing game – it was his best performance of the season for Panathinaikos – as we found a way to win and advance to the Final Four once again.
“Nunn didn’t find his rhythm tonight and it’s true that Efes played great defense on him throughout the series. He was nervous in the second half and missed some of his regular shots but the important thing is that he played great defense. He will come good at the Final Four.”
Ataman also revealed how demanding it was to play against his former club after he guided Efes to successive titles in 2021 and 2022.
“It was very stressful for me to play against my ex team, with so many memories involved,” he said. “Now, I need to rest before I start thinking about the semifinal. All four teams going to the Final Four will be in with a chance of winning it, so we are taking it one step at a time.”
Panathinaikos is up against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul and the matchup will rekindle Ataman’s fierce rivalry with Fenerbahce from his Efes days, while current bitter foe Olympiacos Piraeus takes on AS Monaco in the other semifinal. The showpiece event will present Ataman with a chance to win another set of back-to-back titles, having reached the EuroLeague summit in his first season with Panathinaikos after he took over in the summer of 2023.
Efes head coach Luca Banchi was left to ponder and wonder what might have been had his team been able to produce slightly better offense in Game 5, having shot a poor 14 of 23 from the foul line and a miserable 10 of 32 from inside.
The Turkish team matched Panathinaikos tit-for-tat for the vast majority of the series but on Tuesday Banchi’s men paid the price for an awful start to the game, as they were left with a mountain to climb after falling behind 36-13 midway through the second quarter.
“Both teams fought for every possession in all five games and although we lost, we showed the personality to overcome difficulties,” the Italian tactician said. “It wasn’t a good night for us offensively and to win this game we needed to do something special. We missed nine free throws and in a game as big as this one that’s crucial.”
Banchi also heaped praise on his outfit for an impressive late surge in the regular season which saw Efes leap over more likely postseason candidates into the playoffs.
“The bigger picture is that back in February when we were 13th in the standings, reaching the playoffs looked like mission impossible, so what the guys produced in the last two months is impressive,” he stressed. “Eight wins in a row to finish the regular season in sixth place and every contest was a do-or-die game.”