Macon makes Panathinaikos history in rout of Efes

Daryl Macon Jr. set a club record with 9 three-pointers made in leading Panathinaikos OPAP Athens to a 95-69 victory over Anadolu Efes Istanbul on Wednesday night at OAKA Altion in the Greek capital. In just his sixth EuroLeague game, Macon erupted for 34 points in a game the Greens led by double-digits after 10 minutes and cruised the rest of the way. Nemanja Nedovic added 17 points off the bench, Howard Sant-Roos contributed 13 and Georgios Papagiannis posted 12 points, 10 rebounds and 3 rebounds in helping Panathinaikos improve to 2-4, but 2-0 at home. Defending champion Efes lost their fourth straight road game and fell to 1-5. Rodrigue Beaubois led Efes's scorers with 16 points, Elijah Bryant scored 15 and Chris Singleton posted 11.

Tibor Pleiss won the opening tip and then buried a long jumper to get Efes on the scoreboard. Sant-Roos drilled a three and converted a three-point play to help the hosts to an 8-4 start. Sant-Roos drove for a layup and lobbed a pass for a Papagiannis alley-oop before Macon knocked down a triple. That prompted an Efes timeout at 15-8. Little changed though as Papagiannis blocked a shot and dunked again before Macon buried another three that capped a 12-0 run for a 22-8 lead. Krunoslav Simon fed Singleton for a basket that ended a nearly 4-minute-long scoring drought. Efes scored the last 5 points of the quarter to make it 22-13 after 10 minutes.

Beaubois's three-point play clawed Efes to within 7 early in the second quarter. Yogi Ferrell and Ioannis Papapetrou scored on the next two possessions to restore a double-digit advantage, 28-17. Papapetrou added a three in transition and Nedovic got in on the outside shooting party to extend the margin to 36-19. Bryant drove for an Efes layup and added free throws, but Macon drained a pair of threes for a commanding 45-26 lead. Shane Larkin got going for Efes and Beaubois also sank a three. Macon and Sant-Roos continued to dominate and the hosts took a 52-35 lead into halftime.

Back-to-back threes by Beaubois and Adrien Moerman gave Efes hope early in the second half, but Macon responded with his sixth free of the night at the other end. Macon finally missed from downtown for the hosts and Pleiss scored twice to make it 57-45. Coach Ataman was ejected for a second technical foul and Macon made the corresponding free throw and another three-pointer. A Papagiannis slam resulted in a slam before Efes called timeout at 63-45 midway through the third quarter. Jeremy Evans blocked a shot at one end and Sant-Roos and Macon added a triple apiece. A layup by Kenrick Perry made it a 26-point margin. Singleton connected on a three and Bryant scored 5 points for Efes, but Nedovic scored the next 5 points. Beaubois beat the buzzer with a layup to make it 78-55 after three quarters.

Neither team scored in the first 2 minutes of the fourth quarter until Macon made his ninth three. Singleton and Pleiss chipped away at the deficit, but there was no stopping the Greens, who continued to score with ease. Late threes by Nedovic and Eleftherios Bochoridis saw the lead peak at 95-67 in the next-to-last minute as Panathinaikos celebrated a magnificent victory.

Macon's historic night

Daryl Macon Jr. entered the Panathinaikos OPAP Athens history books with his performance against Anadolu Efes Istanbul. The guard, in just his sixth EuroLeague appearance, exploded for 34 points on a club-record 9-of-12 three-point shooting. He made his first 6 tries before missing a shot and also made his only 2 two-point attempts of the game. The previous record for a Panathinaikos player was 8 triples made by Tyrese Rice in December 2019. Macon was also just 1 three shy of tying the EuroLeague single-game record, which is shared by 10 people. His 34th points are fifth-best by a Panathinaikos player in competition history and Macon's PIR of 38 rank 10th on the club charts in that category too.

Simon, Bryant among Efes's bright spots in defeat

On a night where very little went right for Anadolu Efes Istanbul in Athens, there were still a few players worth celebrating. Krunoslav Simon tied his career-high in assists with 9 and did so while committing just a single turnover. Elijah Bryant took another step forward in finding his rhythm with the club that he only joined last week and scored 15 points while playing a team-high 28:48. And Rodrigue Beaubois was his reliable self on offense with 16 points on 50% shooting.

The stats behind Panathinaikos’s win: elite shooting numbers

The shooting numbers tell much of the story behind Panathinaikos OPAP Athens's blowout of Anadolu Efes Istanbul on Wednesday. The hosts made 66.7% of their two-pointers, 45.5% of their threes and were perfect in 10 trips to the free-throw line. Conversely, Efes was held to 39.0% on twos, 23.1% on threes and 76% on foul shots. Panathinaikos also outrebounded Efes 42-34 and blocked 6 shots to 0 by the visitors. The PIR by teams was 116 for the home team and 66 for the visitors.