THE Panathinaikos had a “party” at the end of the match and reached a comfortable 99-85 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv for the 7th matchday of the Euroleague, offering substance and spectacle to his fans, in the packed Telekom Center Athens.
Although the match started badly, especially in terms of its defense, Panathinaikos found the solutions in the finale of the match and with TJ Shortz and Omer Yurtseven helping Kendrick Nan and Cedi Osman, managed to “kill” Maccabi Tel Aviv and to rise to 5-2 in the Euroleague standings.
However, the “greens” are once again worried about an injury, after Rishon Holmes was unlucky again, shortly after his return to competitive action, with Ergin Ataman again facing a significant problem for the “talls”.
Nan and Osman lead Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos has two of the Euroleague’s top scorers on its roster, with Kendrick Nunn and Cedi Osman looking unstoppable for another game and aggressively leading their team to victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv. The American guard was misguided and… irritated in the last two games of the “greens” and this cost the defeat by Virtus Bologna, but against the Israelis he showed his reaction on the floor.
Nan finished the match with 22 points and 4 assists, but he was decisive in the third quarter, when with his own personal baskets, he brought… the match for his team. On the other hand, Osman has been consistently good this season and had another 20-point game for Ataman’s team. The two have an average of 36 points for Panathinaikos and are the two main “weapons” of the Turkish coach in this first “piece” of the Euroleague.
Shorts and Yurtseven shouted “present”
TJ Shortz was at his best alongside Kendrick Nunn and was the one who came off the bench in the fourth quarter to spark his team to victory. The American guard showed for the first time that he can coexist with last year’s tournament MVP on the court and the result was… explosive. With 13 points and 6 assists in just 15 minutes of play, the former Paris player was instrumental in Panathinaikos’ victory against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
However, Omer Yurtseven was equally important. The Turkish center was asked to play again… alone in the “5” position due to the new injury of Holmes, but this time he fully coped with the needs of the match, especially at the end. With 16 points and 13 rebounds, Yurtseven made a double double and one of his best games with the “greens”, improving in the final and his defense, to allow Panathinaikos to limit the score to the Israelis.
The only bad thing for Panathinaikos is that Holmes’ injury seems to be serious and the “greens” have run out again with the Turkish center as the only “tall”, waiting for Matias Lessor.