The Israeli side fell victim to its own pace as key player was out injured
Inconsistency and Baldwin’s absence cost Maccabi in Game 2
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv looked capable of staging another upset at Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens after an impressive 87-91 win in Game 1 of their Turkish Airlines EuroLeague playoff series, but the visitors ultimately came undone by their own torrid pace which saw them surge ahead in the first quarter of Game 2.
With Panathinaikos still reeling from that loss, Maccabi fired on all cylinders in the opening 10 minutes and raced into a 20-28 lead as Jake Cohen poured 10 points in the first quarter.
However, the absence of top performer Wade Baldwin, who limped off with a hamstring injury late in Game 1, turned out to be a devastating blow and Panathinaikos duly took advantage to turn Game 2 on its head, winning 95-79 in front of a fervent home crowd.
Baldwin, who racked up 15 points and 7 assists in Game 1, could only watch helplessly as Panathinaikos turned a 35-38 second-quarter deficit into a 56-39 lead early in the third quarter and then wrapped up the win on the back of a superb performance from Kostas Sloukas.
Cohen and Antonius Cleveland were among the most productive Maccabi players in Game 2 but the latter acknowledged that without Baldwin, who averages 17.9 and 4.9 assists per game, beating a team as resourceful as Panathinaikos twice in as many days on the road was always going to be a tall order.
“We fell behind in what we’ve been doing all year and they hit some big shots,” Cleveland said in the locker room after the game. “Things didn’t go our way, but it’s a series.
“We need our best player back, it’s different without him. There was one possession where they got 8 points in a row and that gave them an impetus. A minute or two of bad basketball shifted the game in their favor but we’ll regroup, talk about it and we’ll be ready for Game 3.
“We wanted to go 2-0 up but at the end of the day we’ve got a chance to win the series on home court and that’s what it’s all about.”
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Cohen hit the ground running as he netted 10 points in the first quarter for his first double-figure tally of the season and the most he’s scored in a EuroLeague game since January 2020. The forward acknowledged that Maccabi paid the price for lapses in concentration against a team always capable of taking a mile even if given only an inch.
“It was a tough night,” said Cohen. “We weren’t consistent for 40 minutes but I think we can take a lot of positives, we need to make some adjustments and come back strongly.”
Head coach Oded Kattash echoed Cohen’s thoughts. “To win here in such an atmosphere and under such pressure, you have to be focused for 40 minutes. We did a lot of good things tonight but we were not focused for about 5 minutes in each half.
“We started the game well and played the right way the opening 15 minutes. Some of the players are exhausted as they spent a lot of minutes on the court but despite not winning, we showed character just like we did in Game 1. However, they got us on the offensive rebounds and made some big shots.
“Hopefully we are going to get Wade back into the series, we’ll see. Either way, we’re going to keep on fighting as that’s what we do. I wish we could do it in Tel Aviv in front of our crowd, but unfortunately, that’s not the situation.”