After finishing the regular season with nine consecutive home wins, Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens will look to stay strong in the Greek capital with a visit on Tuesday from dangerous Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, which cruised through its play-in test by crushing Baskonia 113-85.
Panathinaikos aims to rebound against Maccabi
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Maccabi's 87-91 win on Tuesday was powered by backcourt duo Lorenzo Brown (16 points) and Wade Baldwin (15 points, 7 assists), but Baldwin ended the game early with a leg injury. He is ruled out for Game 2 with a hamstring injury.
Another key player for Maccabi was Bonzie Colson with 18 points, and the Greens will look for more up against him from Dinos Mitoglou, who was held to 9 points on Tuesday. Panathinaikos also need a bounce-back performance from Kendrick Nunn after he scored just 8 points, but can again count on the leadership of Kostas Sloukas after his double-double of 12 points and 13 assists on Tuesday.
We can expect another big battle in the paint after strong performances from both Mathias Lessort (22 points, 6 rebounds) and Josh Nebo (12 points, 8 boards), and Panathinaikos will be determined to better protect its backboard after Maccabi claimed 15 offensive rebounds in the series opener.