Forty minutes on Tuesday will decide which of these storied clubs will end its Final Four drought
Panathinaikos, Maccabi are all-in for Game 5
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens has not been to the Final Four since 2012. Its last Final Four game was Zeljko Obradovic's last Turkish Airlines EuroLeague game with the Greens. Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv has a chance to reach the Final Four for the first time since it lifted the trophy in 2014. Only one of them will make it, as Panathinaikos hosts Maccabi in Game 5 of their playoff series on Tuesday.
Deja vu, 12 years later
Panathinaikos and Maccabi were in this same exact situation in 2012 when they faced each other at OAKA Altion in a win-or-go-home Game 5. It was one of the most thrilling games in playoff history, too. Maccabi battled back from a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit and current assistant coach Guy Pnini made free throws to tie the game, 85-85, with 9.8 seconds to go. Dimitris Diamantidis drew a foul, made the go-ahead free throw and denied Tal Burstein from getting off a final shot in the closing seconds to send the Greens to the Final Four. Diamantidis finished with a career-high 25 points and set a EuroLeague Playoffs record with 15 free throws made. Former Maccabi star Sarunas Jasikevicius added 13 for Panathinaikos.
Panathinaikos has played three other do-or-die playoffs games, losing 64-53 against FC Barcelona in 2013 and 74-44 to CSKA Moscow in 2014 in respective best-of-five series. The Greens also lost Game 3 of their best-of-three series against Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in 2006, 71-74, at home. It is the only time in EuroLeague history that the road team won a win-or-go-hime game to qualify for the Final Four. Since then, home teams are 5-0 in Game 3s of a best-of-three series and 18-0 in Game 5s of a best-of-five series. Maccabi was once again in that situation last season, losing Game 5 on the road against AS Monaco, 97-86.
Greens need Sloukas at his best
Panathinaikos star guard Kostas Sloukas has a reputation for playing big roles in closeout games, which has allowed him the chance to make it to its 10th Final Four if his team wins Game 5. Sloukas is 9-1 in playoff series and has a chance to make it to the Final Four with a third different team, after reaching it with Olympiacos Piraeus and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul. Sloukas has also been his team's key player in both wins of this series, averaging 24.5 points of 13-of-18 two-point and 5-of-9 three-point shooting and 5.5 rebounds for a PIR of 30.0. In his team's two losses, Sloukas's numbers have been 6.0 points on 2-of-4 two-point and 1-of-5 three-point shooting plus 3.0 rebounds for a PIR of 12.5. Clearly, Panathinaikos is at its best when Sloukas plays a main role.
In the name of the father
Without the injured Wade Baldwin, other Maccabi guards have had to step up. One of them has been Tamir Blatt, who comes off an outstanding Game 4 performance with 14 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists for a PIR of 19. Blatt is a distinguished member of a big basketball family. His father, David Blatt, is one of three coaches to ever win the EuroLeague and the EuroCup, along with the late Dusan Ivkovic and Ergin Ataman. Coach Blatt also took Maccabi to the 2011 EuroLeague Championship Game, where he lost in Barcelona against Panathinaikos, 70-78. A year later, Blatt and Maccabi lost Game 5 of the playoffs in Athens. If Maccabi beats the Greens in Game 5, the Blatt family would become first to have a father and son reach the Final Four as head coach and player.
The centers of attention
Panathinaikos center Mathias Lessort has been the top performer in the playoffs with an average PIR of 26.4. He is fourth in scoring (16.0 ppg.), second in rebounding (6.8 rpg.) and tied for third in blocks (1.3 bpg.). It would sound like Lessort has delivered at knock out at the center position. Not so fast… His Maccabi counterpart Josh Nebo’s numbers have not been as good as Lessort’s, but in the Israeli champs’ two wins, Nebo has shined. He has averaged 17.0 points on 14-of-19 shooting (73.7%), 8.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals for a PIR of 24.5 in Games 1 and 3.
There are a few noteworthy numbers to examine when comparing these two towers of power. Lessort is playing nearly 9 minutes more per game, having crossed the 30-minute barrier in all four games, while Nebo has not touched 30 yet. With Lessort having played 35 total minutes more over the series, that’s the equivalent of a full extra game on his body and could be meaningful down the stretch. Another issue is that while Lessort draws many more fouls, he has struggled from the foul line. Lessort has drawn an average of 9.8 fouls per game, compared to just 2.2 by Nebo. However, Lessort has made just 48.6% of his free throws – and even fewer (43.4%) in the Greens’ two losses. Lessort’s ability to give Coach Ataman 100% for 35 more minutes while making a much higher percentage of free throws are two things that could prove decisive in this game – and series.