A new chapter in a historic rivalry will be written, as Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv clash with Panathinaikos in the EuroLeague Playoffs, with a best-of-five series to decide who will go to the Final Four in Berlin. The yellows will look to steal home court advantage in Game 1 on Tuesday (8:30 PM Israel Time, 1:30 PM ET), when they visit a packed OAKA in Athens.
Oded Kattash has led his team to this stage after a 20-14 regular season record and a big win over Baskonia the Play-In. Maccabi won 8 out of its previous 9 EuroLeague games, but the Greek rivals can say exactly the same. Ergin Ataman’s squad finished second with 23 wins and 11 defeats during the regular season.
The series will feature a fascinating matchups between guards Wade Baldwin IV and Kendrick Nunn, floor generals Lorenzo Brown and Kostas Sloukas and dominant centers Josh Nebo and Mathias Lessort. It will also be a battle between the league top-ranked offense (Maccabi) to the second-best defensive team (Pao).
The Israeli champs won both confrontations with the greens this season. But this rivalry goes way back. In 2012, a playoffs series between the two teams reached a fifth and decisive game, which Panathinaikos won by a point. Pao also beat Maccabi in the Final Four a year earlier, but in 2005 it was the yellows who passed through the Greeks in the semi-finals en route to the title. And we haven’t even mentioned the 2000 and 2001 finals, with each team winning one against the other.
