A kiss of life and an injection of morale for Panathinaikos was its victory over Maccabi in the second match: 95-79 with Kostas Sloukas as the protagonist and 1-1, amid the adoration of 18,000 spectators. The Greens need two wins from three games to advance to the final four, but the series moves to Belgrade next week.
Kostas Slukas had one of the best games of his career with 29 points, 8/9 two-pointers and 4/7 three-pointers. The outstanding Ioannis Papapetrou added 15 points, Dinos Mitoglou 14, Matias Lessor 11 and Kendrick Nunn 10.
Panathinaikos entered the game very relaxed and quickly found themselves losing by a large margin: 20-28 in the quarter. The experienced Kostas Sloukas trumpeted the counterattack and the breakthrough came just before the break with consecutive three-pointers from the Panathinaikos captain (41-38). Ioannis Papapetrou took the baton with five personal points and the difference reached 12 points: 51-39 at halftime.
The 3rd period started with a new Greek run and the score became 64-46 and 71-56, but Maccabi stayed alive thanks to Blatt and hit a 0-12 run when Slukas fell to his 4th foul (71-68). However, Matias Lesor gave Panathinaikos a new boost and Papapetrou gave the free throw with a three-pointer (82-70).
The match took place in an electrified atmosphere, after the public disputes between Panathinaikos and the organizing authority, on the occasion of the statements of Ergin Ataman and the announcement of the KAE regarding the refereeing of the first match. The owner of KAE Dimitris Giannakopoulos was also in the stands of OAKA, after a two-year absence.
The third and fourth matches will be played on Maundy Tuesday and Maundy Thursday at Hala Pionir in Belgrade, Maccabi’s temporary home, behind closed doors. If a fifth match is needed, it will take place at OAKA. The Israelis had won the first match with a score of 87-91.
Ergin Ataman also used Vildosa 5, Grant 3, Kalaitzaki 2, Grigonis 2, K. Antetokounmpo 4, Mandzouka. Absent was the injured Juancho Hernangomet, who is expected to return in the next game.
From the Maccabi of the once “green” Oded Katas, who played without the injured Wade Baldwin, Lorenzo Brown was the top scorer with 18 points. Tamir Blatt, son of the former coach of Olympiakos, added 11. Cleveland 12, Cohen 12, Rivero 9 also stood out.
Olympiacos, which yesterday triumphed away from home against Barcelona with 77-75 (Williams-Goss 15, Kanaan 14, Petrusef 12, Fall 11, McKissick 9), will try to make it 2-0 on Friday night at 10 pm, back to spain The participation of the injured Philip Petrusev is considered doubtful, while Kostas Papanikolaou has remained in Athens. The third and fourth matches are scheduled for next week (Tuesday and Thursday) in Faliro.
Tomorrow, the second match between Monaco and Fenerbahce (0-1) will take place in Monte Carlo. In the final four, which will take place in Berlin on May 24-26, the teams that complete three victories will qualify.
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