In the spirit of Passover, there’s no question that Hapoel Tel Aviv put in some hard labor to pick up the victory over Panathinaikos and in the spirit of the ongoing tensions with Iran, we might even hear one of the club’s leaders declare that this was “a victory that will be remembered for generations.”

This was indeed an important win, perhaps the most important of the Reds’ season as they battle for a spot in the EuroLeague spot for the upcoming years. After an embarrassing loss lat week to Baskonia and heading into a very tough stretch of games, Dimitrios Itoudis’ team faced a direct rival in the fight for a top-six finish in the standings. That rival also happens to be the richest team in the competition, arriving with a nearly full roster and even creating a home-like atmosphere in Hapoel’s home away from home in Sofia, while riding the momentum of four consecutive wins.

Hapoel Tel Aviv came into the game with a rough record of three wins and eight losses against top-eight teams and for the first three quarters, it was clear why. This red’s team is so good at beating weaker opponents but struggles so much against stronger ones.

In these matchups, Itoudis ultimately doesn’t have a Plan B, no real element of surprise. Hapoel is what it is. It loses to the physicality of Fenerbahçe and Olympiacos in the first round, to the pace of Valencia in the second and to the individual matchups and composure of Real Madrid and Žalgiris in both rounds. This Hapoel team had nothing beyond the individual abilities of its stars, the more consistent ones (Elijah Bryant and Dan Oturu) and the less consistent ones (Vaslije Micic and Antonio Blakeney). There was nothing to surprise a superior opponent, nothing to make them hesitate or fail to capitalize on their advantages in roster depth, experience or home court.

Panathinaikos and its fans, who travel anytime, anywhere, with any airline they choose, had all three of those advantages. That forced the Reds to pull a rabbit out of a hat if they wanted to overcome the absurdly talented roster assembled by Ergin Ataman. For nearly 30 minutes, it didn’t look like that would happen. Even though Hapoel managed to get Mathias Lessort and Kendrick Nunn into foul trouble, it was only enough to stay close in the first half. The controversial Turkish coach enjoyed a vintage performance from Kostas Sloukas (14 points, 8 assists with just one turnover in 31 minutes), along with excellent contributions from his forwards, which gave him maximum flexibility on the court. Juancho Hernangómez, Cedi Osman and Nigel Hayes-Davis barely left the floor, scoring even when TJ Shorts handled the ball and Kenneth Faried waited in the paint. What a talent-loaded roster.

Bryant delivered offensively with 18 points, but for some unknown reason played very poor defense. The guard was lax on that end, allowing easy looks for Hernangómez (17 points, 3/4 from three), who hadn’t enjoyed such freedom since his role as Bo Cruz in “Hustle.” Micic tried to contribute offensively but became a target for the Greens, whether against quicker guards or stronger forwards. Neither he nor Bryant managed to get Oturu going, as the big man had perhaps his worst game of the season with just 6 points on 37.5% shooting. Overall, Hapoel didn’t play badly, but it couldn’t find a way to challenge the better team. That was the story for three quarters, all of which Panathinaikos won: 21–20 in the first, 27–24 in the second, and 27–19 in the third.

Sharp-eyed readers will notice I omitted the buzzer-beating three by Colin Malcolm from the third quarter score (officially 27–22). To me, that shot was the tip of the rabbit’s ear peeking out of the hat, it belonged to the reds comeback, which was driven entirely by Itoudis’ second unit, to whom he handed the keys to in a rather rare move.

They repaid him with a highly intense fourth quarter: coordinated, effective defense that forced turnovers (four), relentless hustle for loose balls, responsibility and composure in crunch time. Malcolm sparked optimism, Blakeney hit two huge threes and Tai Odiasie compensated for Oturu with a standout performance, executing perfect pick-and-rolls with the much-criticized Chris Jones. Jones ran the offense flawlessly down the stretch with eight assists and no turnovers and calmly sealed the game from the free-throw line.

Here’s a stat: from the moment Malcolm released that shot when the score was 75–63, Hapoel Tel Aviv outscored the Greeks 29–13. The breakdown of those 29 points: Blakeney 10, Odiasie 6, Jones 6, Malcolm 5, Oturu 2, Micic 0, Bryant 0. What makes this even more remarkable is that Bryant was on the court the entire fourth quarter, yet contributed only a single assist offensively. The outstanding performance of the supporting cast allowed Hapoel not only to surprise Panathinaikos, but to surprise itself.

To beat these powerhouses, especially in a playoff series or, heaven forbid, a Final Four, you have to know how to play as an underdog. As strange as it sounds for a club named “Hapoel Tel Aviv,” this version of the team, which hasn’t proven much yet in this competition, is a poor underdog. Partly because it hasn’t known how to use its own underdogs, the hidden “rabbits” on its bench. The Reds will have a double opportunity next week to practice their “underdog mentality” against Fenerbahçe and Olympiacos and they certainly wouldn’t mind more contributions from the many potential X-factors deep on the bench, some of whom even speak Hebrew.