Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens needs a road win to keep the series alive as Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv seeks another victory in its temporary Belgrade home to return to the Final Four for the first time since 2014.
Maccabi eyes Final Four, Panathinaikos survival
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Maccabi is performing with great balance throughout the series, able to score through the backcourt creativity of Lorenzo Brown (16.7 points, 5.7 assists in the playoffs), the long-range sniping of Bonzie Colson (5-of-10 on three-pointers) or the inside dominance of Josh Nebo (13.3 points, 6.7 rebounds), with Wade Baldwin potentially returning from injury to give another boost.
Panathinaikos hasn't found the same consistency, and will need a big response from veteran leader Kostas Sloukas after he was held scoreless on Tuesday night. The Greens certainly have the firepower to bounce back from Tuesday's thrilling 85-83 loss, with Kendrick Nunn showing his explosiveness by draining 25 points in Game 3.
Perhaps the key to the Game 3 lies in Panathinaikos's ability to slow down Maccabi's multi-faceted offense, control the tempo through Sloukas and defensive ace Jerian Grant, and use Mathias Lessort's power to limit Nebo's outstanding nose for offensive rebounds.