E. Atamans fulfilled his promise – “Panathinaikos” returns to the final four of the Euroleague

Marius Grigonis started the decisive match from the bench and did not score a single point in 7 minutes (0/1 trey), but PAO defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 81:72 at home (19:21, 22:20, 17:15, 23:16 ) and won the quarterfinal 3-2.

The winning streak of the home teams in the decisive – the fifth – match in the history of the modern Euroleague extended to 19-0.

The 58-year-old Turk E. Ataman had promised that he would resign from his position if he did not lead “Panathinaikas” to the final four.

True, Maccabi, led by Lorenzo Brown, started the match better, playing without the injured Wade Baldwin, another leader. The visitors took the lead at 8:15.

On the home side, the most experienced Kostas Sloukas took the initiative, eliminating Maccabi’s advantage with individual actions.

But the Panathinaikos basketball players supported by the crowded OAKA arena were not successful. Mathias Lessort missed free throws (3/14), at one point missing 8 in a row.

The fight was point to point. Until the fourth quarter, when Panagiotis Kalaitzakis, who came off the bench, created a spark with an aggressive defense, and Kendrick Nunn took over the baton in the attack from the injured K. Slouk (64:56).

At the decisive moment, PAO completely blocked Maccabi’s attack – the visitors scored only 2 points in 6 minutes – and pulled away with a double-digit difference (68:58).

K. Nunn, who finished the match fantastically, finally scored a point (81:69).

Having played heroically, K. Nunn, who moved to Europe from the NBA only this season, scored 26 points (6/10 three-pointers), grabbed 5 balls and collected 27 utility points.

Panathinaikos: Kendrick Nunn 26 (6/10 trg, 5 rpg), Kostas Slouk 15 (2/6 trg, 6 rpg), Juancho Hernangomez 11, Ioannis Papapetrou 10 (2/5 trg), Mathias Lessortas 9 (11 rebounds, 8 goals, 3/14 penalties).

Maccabi: Lorenzo Brown 19 (7 rebounds), Josh Nebo 14 (7 rebounds), Tamir Blatt (3/3 trg, 4 fouls) and John DiBartolomeo (3/5 trg) 9 each, Jasiel Rivero 8.

“We deserved this victory. We finished second in the regular season. We lost the first match of the series, but we never lost faith in ourselves. I give these fists to everyone who supports us. We made it to the final four, but now we will fight for the title”, said E. Ataman with a big smile and clenching his fists in victory.

It is worth noting that last season “Panathinaikos” took the second-to-last place in the EuroLeague, and in this season, when the eccentric E. Ataman was at the helm of the team, they reached the final four.

In the semi-finals, PAO will play against “Monaco” represented by Donatas Motiejūnas or “Fenerbahçe” coached by Šarūnas Jasikevicius. The series is also tied at 2-2.