The Yellow & Blue improve their European record to 7:9, winning 4 of their last. Wilbekin led the team in the fourth, scoring 12 of his 22 points. Saturday: Winner Cup Finals against Holon
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.
