PAO fell to Maccabi Tel Aviv 83-85 in Game 3 of the quarterfinals to trail 1-2 in the three-game series.
The fourth match will be played at Maccabi’s home arena this season in Belgrade. Most useful player Wade Baldwin, who is recovering from a stroke and has missed the last two matches, is likely to help the “yellows”.
“We will play our game. Of course, Baldwin is a very good player and they would benefit from having him play. But after the first three matches, I still believe that we will be able to win the series, – said E. Ataman before the match. – I think we played better in the first two games, but we lost one of them on the last attack. In the third match, Maccabi played much better than us, we didn’t deserve to win, but we still had an attack at the end where we made a mistake and lost. But I have a lot of confidence in my team, which has shown character all season. I expected better performances from players who haven’t played well yet, even though they’ve been doing it all season.”
For his part, Maccabi coach Oded Kattash did not run away from the events and expected his team to show maximum concentration tonight.
“The most important thing for us is not to think about the fifth match. We have to come into the match with the right attitude and learn the lessons from the second match. We have to go into the game with the same energy, be aggressive and be ready for the whole 40 minutes in which we can do something spectacular. We are waiting for the match”, said the Israeli.
The match between Maccabi and Panathinaikos will start at 21:45.
