Panathinaikos – Maccabi 87-91: Steal the advantage (vids)

Panathinaikos AKTOR missed the chance to make it 1-0 against Maccabi as the Israelis “broke” the home advantage and despite the delirium prevailing in OAKA, managed to get the victory 91-87 and the first reason for the qualification to the Final Four. Tragic mistake (and the only one) by Sluka at 13” gave the ball to Cleveland.

The title of the favorite is proven on the floor. And not on paper. and the Maccabi he made sure to show it in the most emphatic way.

Although the “greens” had the home advantage and seemed to have the first reason for the first match in the packed OAKA, in the end it turned out to be quite the opposite. The hosts paid for their defensive mistakes, they gave the right to Maccabi to stay in the match and so on Panathinaikos he got to the point… chasing the score putting a huge “must” in his second match OAKA next Thursday.

Yes, the Panathinaikos had found himself leading with +12 points at the beginning of the 3rd period however the Maccabi returned to the match, despite playing for a long time without him Wade Baldwin who was injured and retired to the bench. For another match, it was Bonzie Colson who did the damage for Panathinaikos, scoring 13 of his 18 points in the second half, being responsible for the Israeli team’s upset, while the icing on the cake was Brown, who in turn raised steeply his performance in the second part.

The match: Panathinaikos – Maccabi

At the start of the match, Panathinaikos Yes, he had pace in the attack, but he started to face defensive problems as the Maccabi he easily found his way to the “green” basket. In fact, with seven points in a row from Jake Cohen took a three-point lead (9-12 at 5′), with Panathinaikos to “answer” and equalize at 14 points. But then a… fumble that caused his technical penalty Ataman, brought the guests to +5 (14-19) but his three-pointers Grigonis (9p., 3/4tr.) after its “creation”. Sluka (4 assists) brought him again Panathinaikos within breathing distance at the end of the quarter (25-26).

During this time the “greens” had 5/5 two-pointers and 5/9 three-pointers, while respectively the Maccabi he had tallied 8/12 2-pointers, 2/4 3-pointers and 8 assists for just one foul. With much more energy in defense, the “greens” entered the 2nd period and this is due to his presence Juancho, who helped a lot with rebounds on both ends of the floor. Result; Panathinaikos to reach a partial score of 18-6 and find themselves at +7 (43-32) at 15′. THE Luca Bulldozer had been on fire in that span with 3/3 three-pointers and was the one who had… raised the OAKA on the foot.

Since then, the “clover” did not lose the lead in the score and maintained a constant difference in double-digit margins until the end of the half (50-42). The statistic that stood out in the half was the… 11/11 two-pointers (!!) of the ‘greens, who were also very accurate in the three-pointers with 8/16, while the offer of Juancho in the rebounds (8 rebounds, in 09:44′) and his Sluka in assists (6 assists)

Achilles heel was the shots with 4/9 and the Lessor (10p.) to have 2/7! Also, the “clover” had 11 assists for five mistakes, while respectively Maccabi (12/26dp., 3/10tr., 9/14vol.) had counted 9 assists (incl. just one in the 2nd period) for 2 errors while he had also “collected” 10 offensive rebounds compared to just two of Panathinaikou.

Equally aggressive was Panathinaikos and in the 3rd period. THE Kostas Sloukas he continued to… feed his teammates dishing out one assist after another. The difference reached +12 for the first time in the 23rd minute (56-44) with the captain of Panathinaikos having made the difference in scoring and creation. In the 25th minute the difference remained in double digits (64-54) but a quick 5-0 Maccabi brought her back into the match (64-59). In fact, he “gnawed” the difference to 67-63 after the 4th foul by Nan, while the 3rd period ended at 70-63.

A “goal foul” by him Baldwin with the start of the 4th period brought the match back to two possessions (70-66) while the difference also fell to the basket (70-68) after 2/3 of the American’s shots. If nothing else, Maccabi had entered for good in the claim of victory, with the Bonzie Coulson to tie the game (71-71) with 8:40 left in the game. Since then the game has become… blood and sand! The lead kept changing hands but with two 3-pointers from Coulson and Brown the Maccabi led 77-81 with 5:56 left in regulation.

And even without him Wade Baldwin, who had revved up in that time but felt a leg pull and retired to the bench. Even so, Maccabi had turned the match around for good and even reached the point of controlling it (79-83) until the middle of the last period. In fact, he missed the opportunity to equalize the score four times when the Maccabi had an 81-83 lead, which paid off later as the outstanding second-half Bonzie Coulson with 2/2 shots at 2:15 brought his team back to +4 (81-85).

In fact, the score index even reached +5 (82-87) but a quick 5-0 run by the “greens” brought the match even (87-87) 52” before the end. At 36”, Lorenzo Brown brought it back with a basket Maccabi in front of the score with 87-89. In the next attack, Sloukas made a… tragic mistake by giving the ball to Cleveland and so on Maccabi “broke” the headquarters of Panathinaikos for 0-1 in the series.

WHERE JUDGED: In the two three-pointers from Bonzie Colson and Lorenzo Brown with which Maccabi took a four-point lead and with it the momentum of the match, as well as in Sluka’s mistake at the end.

BEST OF ALL: Bonzie Colson was the one who “turned around” the match for his team having 18 points with 3/8 two-pointers, 3/4 three-pointers, 3/3 shots and 3 rebounds.

THEY EXPECTED MORE: Kendrick Nunn was fouled early, lost his concentration and couldn’t help Panathinaikos at all.

COMPETITORS IN VICTORY: Lorenzo Brown got some efforts at the end and finished the game with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

HIS PERFORMANCE WENT WRONG: Matias Lessor had 22 points and 6 rebounds, while Slukas had 12 points and 13 assists, but he is “charged” for his team’s last mistake.

MATCH STATISTICS: First the 11/11 two points of Panathinaikos at half time

THEIR NEXT OBLIGATION: Panathinaikos and Maccabi renew their appointment for next Thursday (25/4, 21:15) again at the closed OAKA for the Game 2 of the series of play off.

The quarters: 25-26, 50-42, 70-63, 87-91.