By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Olimpia Milano coach Ettore Messina felt what is like being unable to contain Kendrick Nunn’s fury to the bone and isn’t eager to see it happening again.
“Next time that we play against Nunn, hopefully EuroLeague won’t make him nervous with any suspension or whatever. Because… man… he was all over the place tonight,” Messina joked after the 103 – 74 blowout loss of Milano at Panathinaikos Athens and Nunn’s career-high 39 points against his team. This was the first defeat for the Italian powerhouse following six straight wins.
Messina was referring to Nunn missing the previous game of Panathinaikos vs. Anadolu Efes after being suspended by the EuroLeague. In his return to action, the American superstar was like a volcano filled with lava and aching to erupt, dropping 7 out of 9 3-pointers for 21 points in the first period to push the Greens to a 38 – 15 early advantage.
It was a monumental and record-breaking single-quarter output by Nunn. Per the EuroLeague, he tied Toney Douglas’ record for most points in a period while being the top scoring performance ever in a first quarter of a game.
Nunn’s seven 3-pointers also set a new record for the most triples in a quarter, during a 10-minute stretch that was the highest scoring period in Panathinaikos’ history.
Ataman was also naturally in a mood for jokes after Nunn’s display.”He [Nunn] didn’t play in Istanbul vs. Efes so tonight he reached his average by scoring 39 points for two games,” Ataman said to EuroLeague TV. By Round 16, the former NBAer is averaging 19.8 points, apart from 3.5 points and 3.2 assists in an MVP-caliber season overall.
After delivering season-highs 12 points and eight assists along with three steals, Panathinaikos guard Jerian Grant also tipped his hat off to his teammate. “Sometimes you sit down, go to the corner and let him do his thing,” Grant said. “He’s one of the best scorers I’ve ever played with.”