After six consecutive road games and 18 straight days away from home, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv returns to Menora Mivtachim Arena as they'll host Panathinaikos as part of the 16th gameday of the 2020/21 EuroLeague season (Tuesday, 21:15, Live on Sport5 - Channel 55). 

The Israeli champions won three of their last four European games, coming into the matchup with a 6:9 record. On the other side, the Greek squad arrives in Tel Aviv with five wins and nine losses, winning two of six road games this season.

Over the years, Maccabi and Panathinaikos matched up 25 times as the Greens hold a 13:12 edge, but in the last two contests between the teams, the Yellow & Blue beat Pao on both occasions. In Tel Aviv, Maccabi carries a 7:4 lead.



"After two road games, we return to our home court against Panathinaikos, who are a really tough team with a great defensive mentality", Said head coach Giannis Sfairopoulos before the matchup against the Greek squad. Offensively, they have a couple of different attacking options, and as a team, we need to be very concentrated from the start, have the right mindset to execute our game plan, and fight for every possession until the final whistle".

"In the last four games, we won three of them as two were away against very good Spanish teams (Baskonia and Barcelona). Now that all of the players are starting to get more involved, the returning injured players need two more weeks to be in their best game shape", Added Sfairopoulos about the roster. "I believe the players are starting to get comfortable in their roles as our chemistry is growing. I want to emphasize that all of the 16 players on our roster are important and can produce well for the team, and that's the reason they are here".



Dragan Bender, who scored 13 points per game in the last two contests, spoke about the key for tomorrow's game: "We need to start with high intensity from the first minute, as we showed against Barcelona. Everyone who came off the bench brought the same intensity, which helped us a lot to win the game. The last couple of games is just me being more aggressive, going out there and creating situations for myself and others, which helps me get into the game". 

"It is nice to play at home, but it doesn't have as much of an effect as we miss a huge part that drives us here", Said the Yellow & Blue captain John DiBartolomeo. "We have to take this stretch (7 of 9 at home) game by game, and I think it will help us in terms of travel and rest. Especially this year, there isn't as big of a difference between playing at home to on the road". 

"When we play so many games, our focus is forgetting yesterday and focus on the next day. That was one reason we were able to bounce back after the tough loss in France, and that has to continue. Not too high, not too low".

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Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv continues their great EuroLeague stretch beating Panathinaikos 89:81 at Menorah Mivtachim Arena as part of the 16th EuroLeague game of the 2020/21 season. The Israeli champions improve their record to 7:9 after winning their last 4 of 5, gaining ground in the standings.

Scottie Wilbekin was Maccabi's difference-maker in the fourth quarter scoring 12 of his 22 points. Othello Hunter contributed 13 points and seven rebounds while adding a strong presence on both ends of the court, and Dragan Bender continued his hot stretch adding 9 points and a career-best 3 blocks. Elijah Bryant, Omri Casspi, Chris Jones, and Angelo Caoliaro performed well in the win. 

Maccabi's week resumes on Saturday as they face Hapoel Holon in Winner Cup Final as their next EuroLeague game will be on Tuesday against Zenit St Petersburg.



Scottie Wilbekin, Elijah Bryant, Angelo Caloiaro, Dragan Bender, and Othello Hunter started for the Yellow & Blue side. For Panathinaikos, Howard Sant-Roos, Marcus Foster, Ioannis Papapetrou, Aaron White, and Georgios Papagaiannis.

Both squads had a difficult time finding points in the first minutes of the quarter. After four green points, Maccabi stopped the Greeks scoreless for the next five minutes scoring nine unanswered points as Zizic laid in two inside and Wilbekin added two floaters, 11:4. 

Shelvin Mack drilled a triple from deep to stop the run, but that didn't stop the Yellow & Blue as Omri Casspi found Othello Hunter beautifully in back-to-back possessions, who scored five straight points opening a double-digit advantage. Nemanja Nedovic closed out the first quarter with a three-pointer at 21:12.

Ben Bentil opened the period with a shot from outside, Chris Jones responded from mid-range, and Oz Blayzer recovered a Casspi miss and laid in two, 25:15. Bryant and Nedovic exchanged buckets from deep as Casspi and Bender each converted four consecutive points ramping the margin up to 16, 35:19. 

Nedovic tallied 14 of Pao's 30 first-half points keeping his squad in striking distance as Wilbekin and Jones drilled shots from deep, 41:30 at halftime.



A bender rejection on the defensive end led to a Wilbekin transition three-pointer, but Konstantinos Mitoglou (4 points), Nedovic, and Foster (5 points) cut the edge down to 4 as part of a 12:3 stretch, 50:46. Bryant scored five consecutive points regaining a nine-point advantage. Mack and Nedovic converted three from the charity strike as Jones and Hunter added 4 points for the Yellow & Blue, 59:52. 

Hunter and Jones added to the end of the third leading Maccabi to start the fourth quarter while Papagaiannis and Nedovic kept the Greens in the mix, 65:61. Wilbekin dished back to back assists to Bender, who converted five straight points. As Wilbekin and Nedovic took control midway through the fourth.

Nedovic knocked down three triples totaling ten consecutive points, but Scottie answered with a better response connecting 12 straight, tallying 22 points, 82:76 with 2 minutes left. Hunter, Bryant, and Caloiaro concluded the game from the free-throw line, giving the Yellow & Blue an 89:81 win over Panathinaikos.

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