Shane Larkin sparked a comeback for the ages as his Anadolu Efes side showed enormous guts in the OAKA on Thursday night. Panathinaikos will rue the missed opportunity but all of Euroleague was reminded that Larkin still has plenty in the tank as Efes tied the series
It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done. Shane Larkin, the man who was denied a Euroleague MVP title by Covid, and Anadolu Efes took their blows in the OAKA. At one stage PAO led by as much as 15 points yet Panathinaikos learned the hard way that you never count this guy out.
Never count out a fighter
Shane Larkin and Anadolu Efes played most of this game largely to script. They were outsmarted in nearly every department for the bulk of the encounter. In fairness, the same thing happened to Panathinaikos on Tuesday night.
While 12 of Larkin’s 20 points came from deep, this was a ground and pound comeback by the guard. He drove and drove until the Greens just had to find a way to stop him on the inside. Then he either stepped up at the line or found acres to play with on the outside.
The 5 assists were nice too but this performance really did go beyond the raw numbers. Larkin sowed the seed of doubt in the Euroleague champions. Even at their highest lead of 15, the Greens never looked comfortable out there. This was psychological warfare from one of Ergin Ataman’s greatest students against his new side.
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A good old fashioned fight
The game on Tuesday was relatively low-scoring considering the teams involved. Panathinaikos and Anadolu Efes are both amongst the top scoring sides in Euroleague. Yet it wasn’t like it was a pure drag it out affair.
This one was. The march to 50 points felt laborious for each side. Everything after that was an even greater grind. There were certainly shades of the 2014 final in terms of scoring rate yet this was a different flavour.
No, this was a case where weariness became more visible on the offensive, rather than defensive, end was a bigger factor in the denouement. Panathinaikos had thrown every punch they had but Efes kept on coming back for more.
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That’s romantic but, seriously, what happened to PAO
Shane Larkin is the headline maker of this game but he’s far from the only story. There were so many pieces falling into place for Panathinaikos. Cedi Osman was getting his without hogging the action, while Jerian Grant appeared much improved offensively compared to his prior outing against Anadolu Efes.
The issues with Kendrick Nunn’s shooting remained, although he was a fine facilitator, and Ataman probably gave Juancho Hernangomez too much slack. After an exhausting effort on Tuesday, it was always asking a lot for him to pull off a repeat performance.
The foul trouble for Omer Yurtseven certainly didn’t help but PAO should have had the pieces to survive that. This is, after all, a side that followed up its Euroleague title by loading up its roster for a tilt at back to back crowns. Throughout all of this game, even when the Greens were building up their lead, there was a clear lack of flow in their game.
But it’s good for the narrative
The Sunday column this week will be focused on Kendrick Nunn from a serious standpoint. His issues are, in truth, only part of the glorious narrative ahead of observers as the series moves to Istanbul.
There are so many boxes to tick. The return of Ataman to Istanbul in a Euroleague playoff series, against the very team he brought to back to back titles. There’s the aforementioned pressure on Nunn, the rallying behind Shane Larkin, the potential for Luca Banchi to oust the champions.
It’s all so very exciting but here’s the bit that really matters: Panathinaikos have to win a road game in the playoffs in order to survive. Should they fail, there’s no Final Four, no back to back titles, and the fear that their arch rivals in red will win it in their absence.
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