Efes Hand Panathinaikos a Season-Low 83-68 Loss in Istanbul

By Taki Panos

Every unbeaten feeling ends somewhere, and for Panathinaikos on Friday night it ended in Istanbul. Anadolu Efes beat the Greens 83-68 in round 9 of the EuroLeague on October 30, 2026, handing Zeljko Obradovic's team only its second loss of the season, per Gazzetta and Eurohoops. The score tells part of the story. The way it happened tells the rest.

It was a nervous start for the visitors in a sold-out arena. Dario Saric was a problem from the opening minutes, scoring 7 early points as Efes jumped to 21-11 after eight minutes, according to Gazzetta. Panathinaikos answered with an 8-0 burst to close the quarter trailing just 21-18, but the turnovers were already piling up, with six in the first ten minutes alone.

The second quarter looked much the same. After Panathinaikos pulled within 27-25, Efes ran off a 12-2 stretch to lead 39-27 with three and a half minutes left in the half, per Gazzetta. Nigel Hayes-Davis kept the Greens breathing with 9 points in the period, and back-to-back threes from him and Kendrick Nunn cut it to 43-37 before the hosts went into the break up 45-37.

The halftime numbers were strange. Efes had made 16 of 18 two-pointers, an incredible rate, yet just 1 of 13 from three, as Gazzetta noted. Panathinaikos, on the other hand, had 10 turnovers against only 6 assists, per Eurohoops. When you give a team that many easy baskets in transition, their cold shooting from outside stops mattering.

The third quarter brought no real change. Efes kept the lead around ten points, reaching 52-42, and closed the period ahead 61-51. Eurohoops pointed to the same problems as before: poor shot creation, with 10 assists for 16 turnovers through three quarters, and a lot of missed shots. Gazzetta called it a disheartening performance, and it was hard to argue.

Then, finally, the Greens woke up. Mathias Lessort took over at both ends, and a 9-0 Panathinaikos run cut the gap to 61-58, per Eurohoops. Nunn kept attacking, and when Guerschon Yabusele threw down a loud dunk midway through the fourth quarter, it was 66-65. For a moment, everything pointed toward another comeback like the ones we have seen this season.

It did not come. Cameron Payne took control for Efes and led a 14-0 run that turned 66-65 into 80-65 in less than three minutes, according to both Gazzetta and Eurohoops. That was the game. Payne finished with 14 points, 4 of 11 from three, 8 assists and 3 steals, and Gazzetta named him the player of the match for what he did in that stretch.

He had plenty of help. Bruno Fernando scored 15 points on a perfect 6 of 6 inside with 5 rebounds, Colin Malcolm added 15 points and 6 rebounds, and Saric posted a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, per the box score published by Gazzetta and the Eurohoops recap. Coach Pablo Laso's team improved to 4-5 after a heavy loss to Hapoel Tel Aviv in its previous game.

For Panathinaikos, Nunn led with 17 points and Hayes-Davis had 11, while Lessort finished with 5 points and 11 rebounds. The Greens shot just 24 of 64 from the field, 40 missed shots in total, and their 68 points were a season low, per Gazzetta and Eurohoops. The previous low was 72 points, in the 72-55 win at Partizan in round 5. Kostas Sloukas and Nikos Rogkavopoulos were again out, as Eurohoops had reported before the game.

Obradovic did not hide from it. "It was a bad performance. I had said we would face a different Efes. They played with a lot of energy and very well. We did not play at our level. Congratulations to Efes, they deserved the win," he told EuroLeague TV, per SDNA and Gazzetta (translated from Greek). Laso said he expected Panathinaikos to come back in the second half and was pleased his team found the big shots when it mattered.

Saric was the happiest man in the building. After the loss to Hapoel, which he called a disaster, he said the players talked about fighting and sharing the ball. "If you can beat Panathinaikos, the others are easier," he said, per Gazzetta and SDNA (translated from Greek). Former Panathinaikos coach Ergin Ataman was also watching from the stands, as Eurohoops reported.

Istanbul has rarely been kind to the Greens. Eurohoops counted their record in the last ten visits to Efes at 2-8, with the last win coming in the playoffs on April 30, 2025. Even so, Panathinaikos stay top of the table at 7-2 after nine rounds, per Gazzetta's standings, just ahead of Valencia and Olympiacos at 6-2. This season they had already shown real fight in close games, like when they beat Olimpia Milan 80-75 and in the win over Baskonia.

My take: one bad night does not undo a 7-1 start, and Obradovic's teams usually learn fast from games like this. What should worry fans is not the loss itself but the 16 turnovers and the passive first half, because Real Madrid will punish the same mistakes. The good news is that this group fought back to within a point even on its worst night of the season. That says something about its character.

There is no time to dwell on it. Panathinaikos travel to Madrid to face Real in round 10 on Wednesday, November 4, at 21:45 Greek time, per Gazzetta. We will be following every Greens result through the EuroLeague race, so keep an eye on our Greek Sports section. A tough night in Istanbul, and a big test waiting in Madrid.

Sources: Gazzetta, Eurohoops, SDNA, EuroLeague TV.

Image: Anadolu Efes logo, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).