Ergin Ataman, Panathinaikos: 'I don't like to change tactics at this point'

A thrilling and high-scoring series will conclude as Panathinaikos welcomes Maccabi to Athens, with the momentum back on the Greens' side after Game 4's 88-95 thriller in Belgrade.

Panathinaikos backcourt duo of Kostas Sloukas and Kendrick Nunn will look to maintain the form that saw them combine for 47 points and 10 assists on Thursday, while Ergin Ataman's men will also feel confident about going inside the paint after Dinos Mitoglou and Mathias Lessort shared 30 points and 11 rebounds.

Maccabi's hopes took a blow when backcourt ace Wade Baldwin reinjured his hamstring and played just 7 minutes in Game 4. Baldwin is not expected to play in Game 5. That said, Tamir Blatt showed he can also be a factor after providing 13 points and 7 assists with no turnovers in the last game. Lorenzo Brown also has stepped up to score at least 16 points in each of the last four games.

Josh Nebo and Jasiel Rivero will try to crash the glass to earn extra possessions for Maccabi, which claimed 15 offensive boards last time out. But the Greens can also play hard, especially through Lessort, who has drawn an average of 9.8 fouls per game during this compelling series.

Ergin Ataman, Panathinaikos head coach

"It was a good series. Now we get the home-court advantage once more. We won many big games against big teams in OAKA this season. Maccabi is also a great team, and we will be at 100 percent to win this game. I only look at my team, we will see which players are on the court and we will play our game. Juancho will be on the court. We made some mistakes in the previous games, but honestly I don't like to change tactics at this point, so we will do the same we have been doing. In every game, some players play better, others not so much. We hope we get a great performance from all of them in Game 5. Maccabi is a great offensive team, so I am not thinking about how to stop them, but about how we can score more points than Maccabi!"

Oded Kattash, Maccabi head coach

"We are excited. There’s a reason we are here, we did a great way to be in this position, especially under the circumstances. Hopefully we will be ready. Defensively we have to be really focused and play a complete game in order to do something special."

Panagiotis Kalaitzakis, Panathinaikos player

"This is the most important game for our club, not of this season, but also probably of the last decade. We will have the support of more than 20,000 people. It's not about basketball. We have played Maccabi like seven times this season, so this is not about basketball anymore, but about who wants it more. We want to initiate the first contact from the first minute. We want to play great defense and put the crowd into the game. We have to come tomorrow night and finish the job. Maccabi is a greatly-coached team and lots of talent. They punish our turnovers, so we have to be ready. This will be about fighting."

Lorenzo Brown, Maccabi player

"The preparations are pretty much the same. Looking at film, the last few seconds of our defense we kind of lost track of everything. We were pretty good for the first 15 seconds. Once we take control over that, I feel the game is going to be ours."

James Webb, Maccabi player

"I feel like we had pressure all season, not being able to play at our home. The pressure is mutual, but at the end of the day it’s just a basketball game. We need to lock in on defense a little bit more, slow Nunn and keep Lessort off the paint. We made a few adjustments to get it done."