Josh Nebo dominated the Greens' glass as his team secured an important road victory
Maccabi leaned on offensive rebounds in Game 1 win at Panathinaikos
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Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv rallied from a double-digit deficit to beat Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens 87-91 on the road in Game 1 of their best-of-five playoff series. Offensive rebounds and turnovers were two of the biggest keys in the Israeli side's win.
Maccabi won the battle of the boards, outrebounding Panathinaikos 33-37. The guests pulled down 15 offensive rebounds and allowed Panathinaikos to get just 6 offensive boards at the other end. Josh Nebo led the way with 5 offensive rebounds, all of which came in the first half. Antonius Cleveland and Jasiel Rivero also grabbed multiple offensive boards against the Greens.
Maccabi played smarter and weathered the storm
The guests also took much better care of the ball, limiting themselves to just 6 turnovers and picking up 8 steals. As many as seven Maccabi players had at least one steal, which speaks wonders about its overall defensive activity. On the other hand, Panathinaikos had 3 steals and 12 turnovers. Kostas Sloukas had a career-high 13 assists and just one turnover, which came on the Greens' final possession, with Maccabi leading 87-89 in the final minute.
Small details made the difference down the stretch. Panathinaikos hit its opening 12 two-point shots and was still 16 of 18 (87.5% 2FG) late in the third quarter, with the Greens on track to break an all-time playoff record which has belonged to Anadolu Efes Istanbul (80.0% 2FG) since 2022. Panathinaikos, however, went on to score just 6 of its last 12 two-pointers (50%).
Free throws missed were also a big factor in this game, as Ergin Ataman's squad went 16 of 26 from the foul line. Center Mathias Lessort went 4 of 11 (36.4% FT) from the foul line on the night after hitting 65.8% of his attempts throughout the regular season. Maccabi hit 21-of-27 attempts (77.8% FT), none more important than Nebo's foul shots which sealed the outcome with 3.1 seconds remaining.