Maccabi Tel Aviv moved to within one game of the Euroleague Final Four after just getting by Panathinaikos 85-83 at their home away from home in Belgrade. The yellow-and-blue controlled the pace of play from the tipoff and held the Greeks to just a measly 11 first quarter points which set the tone early.

However, as Oded Katash’s teams have done in the past, they started playing the clock in the fourth quarter and that allowed the visitors to mount a comeback that tied the game up at 83-83 with under a minute remaining and could have even taken a lead has Mathias Lessort not missed a free throw.

But the one time Maccabi Tel Aviv big man, who had been brutal from line shooting under 50% for the series came up short yet again in the clutch from the charity stripe. This allowed the yellow-and-blue’s Lorenzo Brown the chance to ice the game with his free throws to send the 1,000 strong faithful who had travelled to Serbia the chance to celebrate in style while leaving PAO stunned in disbelief.

“We relaxed,” MVP Josh Nebo admitted after seeing the fourth quarter lead evaporate before looking ahead to a critical fourth game. “We stopped doing the things that got us the lead and kind of started to watch the clock and just wait for the game to finish versus keep on playing. So going into game 4 we got to keep doing the things that got us the lead in game 3 and make sure we do a better job of closing the game out.”

Maccabi, now within just one win from returning to the pinnacle of the Euroleague after a ten-year absence will undoubtedly do the maximum to find a way to win game four on Thursday (21:45 Israel time) as it will be all hands on deck. The question as to whether Wade Baldwin will play or not after injuring his hamstring will most probably be unresolved until game time and after winning game three without the star guard, Maccabi must have gained confidence that if they can do it once, they can do it again.

“I am very happy and it was crazy in the end,” Katash said. “They had a run in the 4th quarter and picked up the tempo and hit some crazy shots they are a good team and have a lot of quality. We deserved the win and I am really happy as to how we came out after game two. We were very focused and found ways to score in our system and adapted well. I am very happy for the players.”

The bench boss continued, “We were missing a guard in our rotation and we lost our calm. They made some very good shots but we stayed there and we deserved the win. We have to learn from last week when we came with less energy and we are 40 minutes away from something really big. I hope we will get Wade back and that will really help us splitting up the minutes.”

Although it sounds as if Baldwin will be available in some shape and form, it may just be a dog and pony show and not much more than that to shake the opposition up and have them double think if he will play or not.

While PAO have tried everything off of the court to give them any type of advantage possible, whether it was their head coach Ergin Ataman’s lecture about the officiating after game one, the club’s statement about politics playing a factor in the series, or owner Dimitrios Giannakopoulos’s actions on the sidelines and late night Instagram rant videos, Maccabi have kept it level headed taking the lead from their own head coach Oded Katash who has been as cool as a cucumber.

They have been a spitting image of their bench boss as they now are holding a 2-1 series lead.

But they also have to know that should they come up short in game four, going back to OAKA for a game 5 gives them very little chance to punch their ticket to the promised land as no visiting team has ever been victorious in a deciding game on the road.

While everyone stepped up for Maccabi to win game three, which they didn’t do last season against Monaco, Nebo stood head and shoulders above all as he once again proved why so many teams will be lined up for his services following the season. He was dominant in the paint yet again that at this point he will be able to write his own check to the suitors who will be more than happy to open up the brief cases.

Lorenzo Brown picked up the pace early and often, Bonzie Colson looked more like himself as he set the tone immediately after tip-off following an off game and James Webb finally found his stroke from downtown. All in all this was the epitome of a team win on the offensive side of the ball.

“It’s basketball, being a professional, it comes with it,” Webb said. “I know I’m not the number one scorer on the team and stuff like that and I don’t try to be, I know my role and I just stick to it to tell you the truth. Making shots, missing shots, like I said on Twitter I provide other stuff so whatever the team needs me to do, that’s what I day.”

Defensively, Maccabi warned that they were going to find a way to make sure that Kostas Sloukas won’t score at will as he did to the tune of 29 points in game two and defend him they did to perfection as he scored 0 points while taking only 3 shots! How about them apples!

How often are you going to absolutely shut down a player of Sloukas’s quality and while Kendrick Nunn led all scorers with 25 points and Ioannis Papapetrou dropped 17 points, stymying Sloukas is absolutely devastating and hats need to be tipped to both the coaching staff who came up with the game plan and the players who executed it.

But above all were the fans who flew to Belgrade and descended upon the legendary Pionir Arena to give the players a sense of home. The fans who had not been able to sheer their heroes on for the majority of the Euroleague season were given the opportunity to do so after discussions between the club and local authorities.

“The fans were big for us,” Katash exclaimed. “That was really special for us, you can’t believe how big it was under these circumstances, we missed our fans and missed playing at home. To get 1,000 fans was like having 40,000 fans.”

Nebo also chimed in about the presence of the fans in Belgrade, “As a whole team we just want to say a very big thank you to the Maccabi fans for coming, flying out and paying for a ticket to come and support us. It really means the world to us. They’re really helping us on the court, they gave us the extra push today. Without them I don’t know if we would have got the win so were all very thankful for their support and hope in game 4 they do the same.”

“It’s great, not being able to have fans at home court this whole year has been terrible,” Webb concurred. “It feels like the COVID year all other again just for us though. I’m not going to try to put the blame and say it’s unfair and stuff like that, but at the end of the day playing away from our fans, homes, family not able to watch games and stuff like that is tough. But like I said before, we’re a tough group of guys, we just find a way to get it done.”

Game 4 will no doubt be played in a crazy and wild atmosphere as the Maccabi fans will try and push the team through to Berlin and the Final Four where anything and everything can happen against any team in a one game semifinal followed up by a one game winner take all final to close out the 2023/2024 campaign.

“The fans were amazing,” Captain John Dibartolomeo said. “They really picked us up. I believe they were the difference as we’ve missed them so much all year and we can’t wait to see them again on Thursday.”

Is Maccabi Tel Aviv a team of destiny? Will Panathinaikos find a way to send the series back to Athens? Will the yellow-and-blue make their way to Germany against all odds in a season that saw more ups and downs than a roller coaster?

“3-1?” Nebo said when asked if Maccabi can close out the series this week. “I can’t say that. Pana is a very good team so they’re going come out ready to play and we got to leave our hearts on the court and try our best to get the win. It won’t be easy so we have to see how the game goes.”

Webb also didn’t want to sound too over confident going into a potential close out game, “Game 4? We’ll come out there, stick to our game plan and let the rest take care of itself.”