By Evaggelos Papadimitriou/ info@eurohoops.net
An emotional best-of-five series between Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv and Panathinaikos Aktor, fueled with controversial reactions of Ergin Ataman, settled at 1-1 after two games in OAKA Altion.
“We came here and won Game 1. We wanted to win Game 2. But at the end of the day, we have a chance to end it at home,” mentioned Antonius Cleveland after a losing effort for the Yellows in Athens on Thursday.
The Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs series resumes next week with two meetings in Belgrade on Tuesday and Thursday.
“They made shots. They did what they were supposed to do here. Great team,” the former Southeast Missouri State standout recapped Game 2, “We can’t really but ourselves up too much. We just got to adjust, going back home. We got to take advantage of our home court.”
Asked about Ataman criticizing the referees after Game 1, Cleveland rejected any part of his side falling shy of a second win. “Ataman just wanted to, I don’t know, put pressure on the refs. That’s not what we are about. We just play. Oded [Kattash] never does anything like that. I can’t speak for what his goal was. I think the referees had nothing to do with us losing tonight,” he stressed.
After Game 2, the head coach of Panathinaikos talked about his side proving to be a better team than Maccabi. “It is 3-1 on the year. What does Europe think about that?” responded Cleveland.
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net