Oded Kattash got plenty of output from his big men in an important triumph at Panathinaikos
Maccabi's frontline delivered in Game 1 win at OAKA
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Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv overcame an incredible basketball atmosphere at OAKA to beat Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens 97-91 in Game 1 of their best-of-five playoff series. In particular, the visitors' big men delivered, giving Maccabi plenty of options on offense.
Jake Cohen started at power forward and immediately delivered, allowing Maccabi to shake off a slow start. Cohen scored a layup, a mid-range jumper and a three-pointer to give Maccabi a 9-12 lead, setting the tone in a high-scoring first quarter.
Even when Panathinaikos regrouped in the second quarter, Maccabi always found good options in the paint. Josh Nebo pulled down 5 of his team's 10 first-half offensive rebounds and both Jasiel Rivero and James Webb helped Maccabi in many ways, particularly on offense.
Webb provided a couple of highlight plays with an off-balance basket and a two-handed dunk. Rivero was really effective in the paint, using his post skills to go against Mathias Lessort. With the game on the line, Nebo played a crucial role, converting an alley-oop dunk in the penultimate minute of the game before drawing a foul with 3.1 seconds remaining and his team up 87-89. He sank both free-throw attempts to put the victory on ice.
"We just stuck with it. In playoff basketball, no games can be won in the first quarter, first minute, second quarter. We just have to stick with it, be resilient," Nebo said. "If they go up, we just have to keep playing. We cannot get too high, get too low. I think tonight, we all stuck with it. We stuck with the game plan, we kept believing in each other. We keep our attitudes in a good place and at the end of the game, we were able to find the way to win the game."
An impressive night by Maccabi's bigs
Indeed, Maccabi's frontline showed great resilience. Cohen had 7 points in less than 13 minutes, Webb finished the game with 6 points and 5 rebounds in 11 minutes, Nebo had 12 points, 8 rebounds and a PIR of 18, and Rivero needed just 15 minutes to get 9 points and 4 rebounds.
Above all, Maccabi showed that plenty of its players can contribute, not just its star perimeter players, such as Wade Baldwin and Lorenzo Brown. That makes Maccabi more unpredictable and definitely a better team going forward.