Panathinaikos AKTOR – Maccabi 95-79: Legendary Slukas with a unique appearance and the clover shouted that he is here

Kostas Sloukas was better than ever this year and led Panathinaikos AKTOR to a victory – tie (95-79) against Maccabi Tel Aviv (1-1) in the EuroLeague playoffs. His career-high 29 points only tells part of the story of how much of an impact he had in Game 2 of the series.

For something like these evenings he took him, for something like these evenings he also made the decision to cross the opposite side of the river and wear the green shirt. Kostas Sloukas played better than ever this year, in an unrepeatable personal rhapsody and led Panathinaikos AKTOR to a victory – tie (95-79) against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the EuroLeague playoffs.

Oded Katas’ team started better, putting unbearable pressure on the opposite side, but as long as Kostas Slukas was there, Panathinaikos AKTOR had nothing to fear. With an impressive second period (31-11) and huge help from Ioannis Papapetrou, Game 2 of the series ended up in the hands of the Greeks, who now have a mission: to get at least one win in Belgrade on Holy Week.

There is no other choice!

The MVP

Who else; Kostas Sloukas! That is, the one who carried Panathinaikos AKTOR in the first half and got him out of a difficult position with the consecutive three-pointers he achieved. The leader of the greens lit the spark in OAKA, for the rest to follow. 15 points in the first half was all the money for the shamrocks, with Kostas Slukas closing the game with 29 points (career high), 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 turnovers.

The weak link

This time Bonzie Colson was not as influential for Maccabi Tel Aviv. He didn’t find free shots, he didn’t find phases in the low post. He remained at 6 points (with 2/5 shots and 1/2 shots), 4 rebounds and 1 steal in 34’30” of participation.

The statistic that stood out

Panathinaikos AKTOR closed the game with 68.6% on two-pointers and 40.7% on three-pointers. How to lose at home with such percentages? Especially since he had 18 assists for 10 fouls.

The race

The first period did not offer anything good to Panathinaikos AKTOR, since it was essentially a remake of what we saw two nights ago. Big problems on defense, a lot of open shots for Maccabi and Jake Cohen breaking out (12 points in the first quarter). That’s why Maccabi reached +9 (16-25 at 9′), in a time when Panathinaikos AKTOR couldn’t find two or three good series defenses to get the momentum.

The same scenario continued in the first half of the second period, as Oded Katas’ team felt comfortable and were not troubled by the fact that the game was… a rodeo. The +5 (30-35 at 15′) had increased the concern and anxiety, until Kostas Sloukas took action.

The captain of the greens took a step forward and ignited the spark that set OAKA on fire until the break. With one shot succeeding another (all three-pointers) and the proper support (see Ioannis Papapetrou and Matias Lessor), Panathinaikos AKTOR turned everything upside down, to such an extent that he went to the locker room with a significant lead (51-39) .

The third period was yet another proof of the superiority of Kostas Sloukas, but this time Ioannis Papapetrou was even more effective in attack. That’s why Ergin Ataman’s team shot the difference up to +18 (64-46 at 26′), at a point when Lorenzo Brown seemed to be fighting alone – in the absence of Wade Baldwin.

However, the big lead was not accompanied by the will to “finish” the game. Everything else brought relaxation. Poor attacking choices turned into easy points for Maccabi Tel Aviv, who within five minutes came back stronger. At -5 (71-66 at 31′) thanks to a spike by Hasiel Rivero, forcing Ergin Ataman to call a timeout.

So at the moment when the guests looked more and more threatening, with Antonius Cleveland making a breakthrough, Kostas Sloukas took a step forward again. Despite four fouls, Ergin Ataman took the risk and left him on the floor. And his leader justified him! With personal points and creation, Panathinaikos AKTOR escaped again to +15 (87-72 in 37′), to enter the epilogue somewhere there.

REFEREES: Belosevic – Peruga – Jovcic.

THE DECADES: 20-28, 51-39, 71-60, 95-79

PANATHENAIKOS AKTOR (Ataman): Kalaitzakis 2, Vildosa 5, Balcherovski, Slukas 29 (4/7 three-pointers, 3 rebounds, 4 assists), Papapetrou 15 (4/7 three-pointers, 3 rebounds), Grant 3, Nunn 10 (4 rebounds), Grigonis 2 (2 rebounds), Mitoglou 14 (6 rebounds), Mantzoukas

MACABI (Katas): Cleveland 12 (3 rebounds), Webb 2 (5 rebounds), Brown 18 (1/3 threes, 6 assists), Sorkin, DiBartolomeo 3, Rivero 9 (2 rebounds, 2 assists), Cohen 12 (2/ 3 threes), Thomason, Nimbo 6 (3 rebounds), Blatt 11 (3/6 threes, 6 assists), Colson 6 (4 rebounds)

The team statistics of Panathinaikos AKTOR: 24/35 2-pointers, 11/27 3-pointers, 14/20 shots, 33 rebounds (12-21), 18 assists, 5 steals, 10 turnovers

Maccabi’s team stats: 23/40 2-pointers, 9/23 3-pointers, 6/8 shots, 27 (10-17) rebounds, 22 assists, 4 steals, 11 turnovers