Panathinaikos – Maccabi 95-79: This Slukas wants to take him to Berlin! (video)

With Kostas Sloukas having the best performance of his career in the Euroleague and setting a record with 29 points, Panathinaikos “answered” Maccabi in the burning OAKA (95-79) and brought the series of play offs even (1-1 ).

THIS was the Kostas Sloukas Panathinaikos fans dreamed of when he signed his contract last summer.

The one who would take matters into his own hands when it all came down to it. Whatever preceded his mistake in Game 1. Not only was he not affected, but he managed to turn in the best performance of his Euroleague career with 29 points on 8/9 2-pointers, 4/7 3-pointers, 1/1 shooting, 4 assists and 3 rebounds.

Ioannis Papapetrou was also excellent, who in turn played his best game this season, having 15 points with 4/7 three-pointers, 3/4 shots, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

Now the series moves to Belgrade where Panathinaikos will try to get back home advantage in the Holy Week.

The match: Panathinaikos – Maccabi

As in the first match of the series, so too at the start of Game 2, Maccabi was very accurate on shots inside children and tried to re-impose their offensive rhythm. And he largely succeeded! Lorenzo Brown distributed and scored while Jake Cohen was again the “x factor” of the Israelis in the first part of the match as with 10 points he brought Maccabi to +7 (16-23) having 7/7 two-pointers! The defense of Panathinaikos was very bad during this period, as a result of which the 1st period ended with the score at 20-28 in favor of the visitors.

Oded Katas’ team had up to that point 8/9 two-pointers, 4/7 three-pointers, 6-1 rebounds and 8 assists for 2 errors, while respectively the “greens” had counted 7/14 two-pointers, 2/4 three-pointers, 3 -3 rebounds and 4 assists for 1 error. The problem was mainly defensive, with Maccabi players finding their way to the Panathinaikos basket with typical ease, as evidenced by 12/16 shots.

With Kalaitzakis in the “3”, Papapetrou in the “4” and Antetokounmpo in the “5”, Panathinaikos became more “tough” in defense and tried to “nibble” the difference, having the duo of Sluka and Vildosa in the guards. He partially succeeded by reducing it to 30-33 at 14′ while also missing three opportunities to equalize. Maccabi “answered” with 3-0 for 30-36 and the new difference in the two possessions. Brown masterfully led his team during that time, being the best player on the floor.

From that point on came the… ups and downs! The captain of Panathinaikos gave the big signal of the counterattack and with 13 points in the 2nd period, having hit three three-pointers in a row, the “greens” made an impressive 19-2 (!) and found themselves leading by 11 points (49-38) having effected the total overthrow. A period where the defense was nothing like the first quarter.

In fact, the half ended with Panathinaikos leading by 12 points (51-39), the biggest in the entire first half of the match. It is typical that the partial score of the 2nd period was 31-11 (!!!) with Slukas having 15 points with 3/3 two-pointers and 3/5 three-pointers, Mitoglou another 8 points and 4 rebounds and Papapetrou (6p. ) to help a lot in the defense against Coulson. Maccabi’s accuracy stopped from one point and then closing the half with 11/17 2-pointers, 5/13 3-pointers, 2/4 shots, 9-4 rebounds and 13 assists for 6 turnovers. Accordingly, Panathinaikos had 13/20 two-pointers, 6/14 three-pointers, 7/8 shots, 10-6 rebounds and 10 assists for 4 errors.

At the start of the second half, Panathinaikos was leading by 17 points (56-39 at 22′), having started with a 5-0 run. And it didn’t stop there. With Nan and Papapetrou entering the equation, the score index reached +18 (64-46 at 25′) with the “greens” being dominant on both sides of the floor. Maccabi may have cursed solutions with Tamir Blatt’s long shots but the “greens” controlled the match and kept a difference of 15 points (71-56) before accepting a 4-0 run in the final seconds for 71-60. Kostas Sloukas was unstoppable (22 points) but shortly before the end of the 4th period he was charged with a 4th foul.

As it turned out in hindsight, this period completely disorganized the Greek team, which suffered a sudden… blackout and received a total 12-0 run for 71-68 at 32′! The offense seemed to “stick” while Maccabi grabbed the rebounds and “hit” in transition getting points with full-court passes. Essentially, Katas’ “zone” was the one that changed the image of the match, as a result of which the Israelis came within one possession, having returned from -18. Since then and after the defenses came out, the ball was “resting” a lot on Lesor, as a result of which Panathinaikos once again took a double-digit lead (84-70 at 36′).

WHERE JUDGED: In the terrible 2nd quarter and in the partial 31-11 run by Panathinaikos, as a result of which they changed the history of the match and took complete control of the match.

BEST OF ALL: Who else; Kostas Sloukas! With 29 points (career record), 4 assists and 3 rebounds in 29 minutes of participation.

THEY EXPECTED MORE: Bonzie Colson did not have a similar match to that of Game 1, staying at 6 points.

COMPETITORS IN VICTORY: Ioannis Papapetrou was excellent (15 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 goals) and complemented Slukas perfectly.

HIS PERFORMANCE WENT: Very good match from Lorenzo Brown with 18 points and 6 assists.

MATCH STATISTICS: 69% of Panathinaikos on two-pointers with 24/35 and 41% on three-pointers (11/27).

THEIR NEXT OBLIGATION: The stage of the play offs will be moved to Belgrade and more specifically to the “Aleksandar Nikolic Hall” (also known as “Hala Pionir”) where on Holy Tuesday (29/4, 20:00) Maccabi will host Panathinaikos in Game 3 of the play off series.

The quarters: 20-28, 51-39, 71-60, 95-79.

Panathinaikos – Maccabi 1-1

Game 1: Panathinaikos – Maccabi 87-91

Game 2: Panathinaikos – Maccabi 95-79

Game 3: Maccabi – Panathinaikos (30/4, 20:00)

Game 4: Maccabi – Panathinaikos (2/5, 21:45, if necessary)

Game 5: Panathinaikos – Maccabi (8/5, if necessary)