Maccabi Tel Aviv downed Panathinaikos 90-75 as Wade Baldwin starred in the win to get the yellow-and-blue hack on track and bump their Euroleague record up to 13-10 with a Spanish double week coming up. Oded Katash’s squad played the Greeks tight over the course of the first half as a late 14-1 run led by Lorenzo Brown to finish of the second quarter gave Maccabi some breathing room and a 43-36 lead. Ergin Ataman’s team came back strong in the third quarter but Baldwin went off in the final frame to close out the 15-point victory.
Baldwin led the way with 22 points and 8 rebounds, while Brown, Josh Nebo and Bonzie Colson all had 14 points in the win. Panagiotis Kalaizakas scored 17 points as Jerian Grant, Kendrick Nunn and Dinos Mitoglou scored 13 points a piece.
“I’m very happy for the win after this game after a tough week and tough losses,” Oded Katash said. “We lost our way confidence and energy, whatever is the reason but we reacted the right way and we should have been better in the first half but they really punished us with 36 points and 13 offensive rebounds while overall they had 20. We played against a very physical and good team and we stuck to the game plan.”
“I think we didn’t deserve to win the game,” Coach Ataman began. “It was very difficult to play my basketball without a point guard. Grant had a problem and was one of our main scorers and it was difficult to win in the Euroleague and you can’t win every game. Maccabi is one of the top teams and we missed our two point guards in Luca Vildozza and Kostas Sloukas and I hope one of them will come back soon.”
The game MVP Wade Baldwin spoke about the victory, “We’ve been in a bit of a rough patch losing the last two EuroLeague games, couple games in Israel but today was a good game to get on track, we found a weak link in their defense and we attacked it. We are happy with the win.”
Prior to the game a moment of silence was held for Lior Lubin who passed away earlier this week and was of course best friends with Oded Katash.
Moment of silence in memory of Lior Lubin z”l. pic.twitter.com/QbMzpXEBk9
— Sports Rabbi (@thesportsrabbi) January 25, 2024
Jake Cohen and Dinos Mitoglou traded triples to start off the game, Lorenzo Brown scored a deuce and Wade Baldwin went from deep for Maccabi Tel Aviv while Kendrick Nunn added points for Panathinaikos as the yellow-and-blue led 11-9 midway through the first quarter. Mitoglou went from downtown, Josh Nebo countered inside with a pair of buckets off a Brown pass, Bonzie Colson hit a shot as did Jerian Grant and Ioannis Papapetrou as the greens grabbed a 21-18 lead.
Nunn began the second quarter from long distance, Jasiel Rivero scored inside as did Mitoglou, Tamir Blatt went for a pair from deep, Grant answered and Baldwin dropped a 3-point play but Ergin Ataman’s squad stayed in front 31-29 with five minutes remaining in the first half. Nunn scored a pair of buckets, Colson hit a turnaround jumper, John Dibartolomeo and Brown hit their free throws, Nebo put down a monster dunk and Brown went from deep to rattle off a 14-1 run and head into halftime with a 43-36 advantage.
Cohen began the second half as he started off the first with points from deep, Baldwin and Grant traded baskets, Brown put in a reverse layup and Baldwin went from downtown to bump the Maccabi lead up to 55-44 midway through the third quarter. Grant scored off the glass, Kostas Antetokounmpo dunked, Marius Grigonis scored, Rivero finally broke the 10-0 PAO run with a layup, James Webb put in a deuce, Baldwin and Panagiotis Kalaizakas went from deep as Oded Katash’s team clung to a 62-59 lead after thirty minutes of action.
Grigonis went from beyond the arc to get the fourth quarter off and running, Nebo put down a Baldwin pass followed by a pair of Wade jumpers, Kalaizakas did the same, but Maccabi continued to lead 72-66 with 5:04 remaining in the final frame. Baldwin put in a 3-point play, Brown scored a tear drop, Kalaizakas went from deep to keep the visitors hanging around, Brown sent Webb a masterful pass, Nebo did the same, Colson went from deep while Baldwin closed out the game with a floater.
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