The hottest player in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs carried over his level of performance into Game 5, as Kendrick Nunn inspired Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens to the Final Four and earned MVP honors along the way.
Nunn set a new personal best with his 27 PIR, which was the highest of any player in Game 5, as the Greens defeated Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 81-72. Playing in his 33rd EuroLeague game, the 28-year-old netted a round-high 26 points after going 2 for 7 from two-point range, 6 for 10 on three-pointers and 4 for 4 from the free-throw line. Of those 26 points, 13 of those came in the fourth quarter as Nunn saw Panathinaikos over the line. What’s more, his 6 three-pointers are a new Panathinaikos postseason record. Nunn also posted 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. This is his first MVP award.
Olympiacos Piraeus also qualified for the Final Four, with center Nikola Milutinov recording a 26 PIR in 25:16 minutes on the floor. The Serbian had a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double in the Reds’ 59-63 win at FC Barcelona, with Olympiacos becoming just the second team to ever win a Game 5 as the road team, a few hours after Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul had become the first. In addition to his double-double, Milutinov had 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. Coming in third place was Maccabi’s Lorenzo Brown, who had a 24 PIR after netting 19 points, grabbing 4 rebounds and dishing 7 assists in his team’s loss at Panathinaikos. AS Monaco star Mike James had a 20 PIR, the fourth-best mark in Game 5, as he amassed 20 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal in his side’s defeat at home to Fenerbahce. Donatas Motiejunas, James’s Monaco teammate, had a 20 PIR following a night that saw him score 16 points, get 8 rebounds, make 1 assist and record 1 steal.
Individual highs: Kendrick Nunn, Panathinaikos, 26 points
Panathinaikos guard Kendrick Nunn was the highest scorer in Game 5, netting 26 points.
Mathias Lessort, also of Panathinaikos, pulled down 11 rebounds in this round, more than anyone else.
Maccabi playmaker Lorenzo Brown had 7 assists during his team’s Game 5 loss, the most in this round.
Ricky Rubio of Barcelona set a new club postseason record by posting 5 steals, the highest total in Game 5.
Four players – Lessort, Maccabi’s Josh Nebo, Fenerbahce’s Georgios Papagiannis and Olympiacos’s Moustapha Fall – all had a round-high 2 blocks in Game 5.
Olympiacos’s Nikola Milutinov was the only player to post a double-double in Game 5, recording 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Source: Euroleague Press Release
