Excellent first and fourth quarters were not enough for Maccabi, as Panathinaikos Athens beats Maccabi 100 – 96. Arroyo finished with 21 points and 7 assists, Fisher scored 20.
Maccabi opened strong in the early minutes of the game, with three-pointers scored by Simmons, Burstein and Fisher, and Maccabi lead 13 – 6 two minutes into the game.
Maccabi opened with a sweeping run of thrilling dunks and alley-oops over the heads of the Greeks.
As the minutes ticked by, Maccabi wasn’t able to keep up the same level of intensity on defense, which allowed Panathinaikos to get back in the game and tie the score at 18 with a minute left until the end of the quarter.
Baskets by Williams and Burstein brought the score to 24 – 21 at the close of the quarter.
Maccabi opened up a promising lead at the beginning of the second quarter, thanks in large part to the athletic ability, on both defense and offense, of Williams and Casspi, and brought Maccabi to a 32 – 24 lead two minutes into the second quarter.
Batista also contributed from under the basket, helping give Maccabi a double digit lead.
But, like in the first quarter, a drop in concentration on Maccabi’s part let the Greeks come back with the help of some successful attempts from three point range, bringing the game close (38 – 35) with four and a half minutes left in the quarter.
Maccabi coach Efy Birenboim put Arroyo back in the game, but it was Saras (Sarunas Jasikevicius) who led his Greek teammates to tie the game, 40 – 40, with two and a half minutes left until halftime.
At that point, it seemed Panathinaikos had found their rhythm, while Maccabi had trouble scoring (Arroyo had zero points up until halftime).
By the end of the first half, the Greeks had opened up a small lead on Maccabi (50 – 45).
When the third quarter opened, Fisher and Arroyo scored, and Maccabi showed signs of coming back.
But Panathinaikos kept on coming with their excellent inside/outside game, and regained the lead with a three pointer from Spanoulis, bringing the game to 55 – 50, four minutes into the third quarter.
This quarter showed a sharp drop in Maccabi’s playing ability, while Panathinaikos looked fluid and in control.
Efy put the ball in the hands of Arroyo, who was able to create plays for his teammates.
On the other hand, a lack of coordination in Maccabi’s defense enabled the Greeks to achieve their largest lead of the game, 73 – 58, with half a minute left in the third quarter.
A three pointer by Arroyo at the end of the quarter brought that down to 73 – 61.
When the fourth quarter opened, another three point shot by Arroyo started Maccabi off on an offensive run.
Three minutes into the quarter, the score stood at 76 – 68.
The defensive leadership of Batista and Fisher broke Panathinaikos’ flow, and brought Maccabi to 78 – 75, with five minutes left in the game.
The Greek’s surprising star, Perperoglou, broke Maccabi’s momentum and brought his team to an 81 – 75 lead with four and a half minutes left.
Burstein (with an ability that is cause for optimism for the rest of the season) and an effective Batista brought about a tie, and Arroyo completed the comeback with a shot that gave Maccabi the lead, 85 – 83, with a minute and a half left in the game.
Then Panathinaikos tied the game, and Saras had the chance to give the Greeks a win, but missed his three point shot and the game went into overtime (though not before Arroyo let loose with a Hail Mary shot to try and win the game).
The game remained close during the overtime period.
A basket by Diamantidis gave the Greeks a slim lead (90 – 87) two minutes into overtime play.
Fisher and Arroyo scored, keeping Maccabi close, then a three pointer by Saras brought the score to 95 – 91 in favor of Panathinaikos, with a minute and a half left in overtime.
A huge shot by Arroyo gave Maccabi back the lead, 96 – 95, but then Diamantidis scored over the head of Burstein, and the score was 97 – 96, with 40 seconds remaining.
A foul on Williams brought him to the free throw line with a chance for Maccabi to regain the lead, but the forward missed both shots.
With thirty seconds left and the ball in the hands of Panathinaikos, Maccabi had no choice but to foul one of the Greek players.
Spanoulis made only one of his free throws, and with twenty seconds left in the game, Arroyo launched Maccabi’s last offensive play with a chance to tie, or to win with a three point shot.
But the guard got confused and lost the ball to Spanoulis, who closed the deal with a basket that gave Panathinaikos the victory, 100 – 96.
Maccabi:
Arroyo: 21 points (7 assists), Fisher 20 points (8 rebounds), Batista 19 points (9 rebounds), Williams 13 points (6 rebounds), Burstein 9 points (7 rebounds, 5 assists), Simmons and Casspi 6 points each, Eliyahu 2 points.
Hagag played but didn’t score.
Panathinaikos:
Spanoulis 19 points, Perperoglou 16 points, Diamantidis 15 points, Fotsis 12 points, Batiste 10 points, Saras 8 points, Nicolas 7 points, Tsartsaris 6 points, Sakota 3 points, Hatzivrettas 3 points.
