Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Panathinaikos 75-71 in a hard fought battle that saw one of the great Euroleague rivalries played in full force at a jam packed Yad Eliyahu. The yellow-and-blue held the lead throughout most of the game with Roman Sorkin and Tamir Blatt leading the way, but Jerian Grant and TJ Shorts along with Richaun Holmes pushed the greens in front after thirty minutes of play. However, Iffe Lundberg along with Blatt and Sorkin together with some big defensive plays by Oshae Brissett and Will Rayman helped Oded Katash’s team wrap up the victory.

The atmosphere was heated up well before tipoff as the fans congregated around the players entrance more than two hours before game time waiting for the arrival of the Panathinaikos team bus. Specifically they were waiting for their head coach Ergin Ataman to walk off the coach and to give him a piece of their mind for the unsavory comments he had made during their playoff series a couple of seasons ago.

Three hundred fans screaming on the top of their lungs telling the Turkish bench boss and 3-time Euroleague champion what they thought of him when he stepped off of the bus. Superlatives and expletives were yelled out in unison to declare their “love” for Ataman who took off swiftly by the Maccabi faithful surrounded by a number of security guards.

Panathinaikos jumped out to a quick lead with Jerian Grant, TJ Shorts and Nikolaos Rogkavopoulos doing the damage but Roman Sorkin on the inside along with Will Rayman and Tamir Blatt from the outside kept Maccabi Tel Aviv close but a deuce by Kenneth Faried gave the visitors a 21-20 lead after ten minutes of play.

Inside the arena itself plexiglass was installed behind the Panathinaikos bench to ensure that the visitors would be safe just in case there would be anything tossed their way. However, the only thing thrown were insults and colorful language by The Gate who gathered just feet away from the visitors and their maestro.

Jimmy Clark dropped a pair of baskets and Blatt went from downtown again to begin the second quarter, Juancho Hernangomez and Vassilis Toliopoulos responded, Iffe Lundberg went from the inside and outside, Richaun Holmes, Omer Yurtseven and TJ Shorts all came back with points, but Dowtin put the yellow-and-blue in front 42-39 at halftime.

The Gate moved from Ataman to one of the owners Dani Federman for their next chant as signs went up all around their cheering area urging him to sell his shares of the club in order to bring in others who may invest a bit more than what is currently being put into the coffers. “Dani Federman Sell” were the chants throughout quarter number two as Ataman got a bit of a break from the Yad Eliyahu loyalists until the last few minutes of the half when the fans shifted their anger back to the number one foe for the evening.

Shorts and Hoard traded baskets to get the third quarter underway, Clark went from beyond the arc, Shorts and Grant scored as did Sorkin at the other end, Lundberg and Holmes scored at the opposite ends, Blatt went for a pair from deep but Alexandros Samodurov also dialled up long distance to give Ataman’s squad a 60-59 lead after thirty minutes.

The Panathinaikos social media team couldn’t get enough content out on their accounts about how their team and of course their head coach was treated by the Maccabi fans, but in reality it was much more tame than the way the PAO supporters take care of the yellow-and-blue when visiting OAKA which is never a pretty picture. However, at the end of the day, as they say, sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never harm me; and that’s all it was, lots of words and not much more than that which created a terrific sporting atmosphere for a good old game of basketball.

Blatt kept hitting his shots from downtown while Marcio Santos went in for a 3-point play to take the lead, Shorts scored a pair of baskets, Blatt fed Sorkin for an easy deuce, Rogkavopoulos came back with points from the inside and outside, but Lundberg hit his free throws to close out the victory.