Maccabi holds off Panathinaikos comeback to take Game 3

Bonzie Colson scored the first 5 points and Josh Nebo added a slam for a 7-0 lead. Jerian Grant’s free throws and Mathias Lessort’s driving layup got Panathinaikos on the board, but Lorenzo Brown and John DiBartolomeo kept Maccabi ahead, 11-4. The Greens went inside for a 2-7 run, including 4 points for Dinos Mitoglou, but Brown’s banked jumper settled Maccabi. Romain Sorkin and Antonius Cleveland made it a 10-0 run and a double-digit lead, 23-11, after 10 minutes.

Luca Vildoza and Jasiel Rivero traded two-point strikes to start the second frame, before Vildoza and James Webb added the game’s first three-pointers. Ioannis Papapetrou also hit from deep and Marius Grigonis scored in transition, pulling the Greens back to 28-21.  Webb and Kendrick Nunn both netted twice, before Vildoza and Cleveland traded triples, 39-29. Nebo detonated a duo of dunks, but Mitoglou and Nunn hit from deep to make it 46-37 at the break.

Nunn’s driving score was answered by Nebo’s alley-oop layup, and Colson’s four-point play stretched the lead to 52-39. Nebo’s power layup and Jake Cohen’s triple completed an 11-0 run for a game-high 57-39 advantage. Nunn and Mitoglou stopped the bleeding, but Nebo nailed another slam, Jasiel Rivero converted a putback and Tamir Blatt scored from mid-range as Maccabi stayed comfortable. Lessort scored 4 points and Papapetrou struck from long-range in a 0-9 response, but Brown beat the buzzer from deep and it was 67-56 with 10 minutes remaining.

Another Nebo dunk opened the fourth quarter, but Nunn and Vildoza lifted Panathinaikos with triples. Brown scored twice for another double-digit margin, 73-63. Nebo dunked and Brown struck from deep, but Nunn’s third triple and Lessort’s layup kept the Greens hoping, 78-70. Another Brown to Nebo alley-oop was bettered by Papapetrou’s triple, and Nunn also scored from deep to make it 81-77 with two minutes left. Lessort’s putback completed a 0-9 run, and Nunn again scored from long-range, 83-82. Lessort could have given the Greens their first lead but could only split his free throws for a tie. Brown drew a shooting foul from Grant and made both, before Nunn missed a triple on the final buzzer.