After his string of inspired performances catapulted a storied club back to center stage, Kendrick Nunn of Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens has been chosen by Euroleague Basketball as the April/May MVP in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Nunn, who didn’t join the Panathinaikos lineup until November, proved to be a difference-maker come April and May as the Greens secured home-court advantage with a second-place finish in an oh-so-tight regular-season race, and then used it to win an epic playoff series that went the distance.
The competition’s newest shooting star was at his best when it counted most, averaging 26.5 points in a pair of win-or-go-home victories against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv that sent Panathinaikos to the Final Four for the first time in 12 years.
Nunn joins rare rookie playoff deciders
The MVP of the Month is named by Euroleague Basketball based on his and his team’s performances. This latest monthly award covered the final two regular-season rounds, the Play-In Showdown and the playoffs, a span of pressure basketball stretching from April 4 to May 8. Panathinaikos compiled a 5-2 record in that stretch, with Nunn leading his team in scoring in all but two games, including Game 4 and Game 5 of the playoffs, when the Greens faced elimination.
Nunn becomes just the third EuroLeague rookie to win the monthly MVP award that covers the playoffs period, after Ekpe Udoh with Fenerbahce Istanbul in April of 2016 and Brandon Davies with Zalgiris Kaunas in April of 2018. He is the first Panathinaikos player to be so honored in more than five seasons since Nick Calathes won the March award with the Greens in 2019.
Nunn propelled the Greens
As April began, Panathinaikos was among five teams with 20 or 21 victories fighting to remain in the top four to get home-court advantage in the playoffs. Nunn helped that cause immensely with a team-high 17 points in a 75-82 road win at FC Bayern Munich. He then scored 28 more to beat visiting ALBA Berlin 84-75, including 11 as the Greens came from behind in the fourth quarter of that regular-season finale to finish retain second place.
Paired with dangerous Maccabi in the best-of-five playoffs, Panathinaikos lost Game 1 at home 87-91, in part because Nunn shot so little, going 4-for-4 on two-pointers but missing his only three-pointer and failing to reach the foul line. In Game 2, he upped his scoring slightly, to 10 points, as the Greens evened the series with a 95-79 win. On the road for Game 3, Maccabi struck back in a thriller, 85-83, to lead the series 2-1 despite Nunn’s game-high 25 points, 13 of those in the fourth quarter as Panathinaikos came just short in a comeback attempt from 18 points down.
With his team facing elimination in Game 4 on the road, Nunn poured in a game-high 27 points to go with 4 assists for a PIR of 27 as Panathinaikos won 88-95 to force a do-or-die series decider at home. In that memorable showdown, neither team led by more than 5 points until Nunn’s three-point strike with 7 minutes left punctuated a 10-2 run that proved decisive. He then answered Maccabi’s next 2 three-pointers with his own, preserving the cushion until the Greens could celebrate an 81-72 win and make a triumphant return to the Final Four. His 26 points and 27 PIR led all players in any of the three Game 5s.
Nunn met the playoffs moment
At the end of the series, Nunn’s 96 points ranked second all-time among playoff winners since best-of-five became the standard in 2009, and his 34 field goals made set a new record for winners. He finished with a playoffs-high scoring average of 19.2 points while making 16 of 31 three-pointers (51.6%) and 12 of 14 fere throws (85.7%). His numbers dating to early April were often better as Nunn has averaged 20.1 points over the seven games since then and made 24 of 43 triples (55.8%). He also had 3.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game, contributing to an average PIR of 17.7 in that span. It all culminated with Nunn’s best two PIRs of the season, which proved vital in giving the Greens their ticket to Berlin!
Source: Euroleague Press Release
