Maccabi Tel Aviv didn’t win this one with comfort — it won it with control when the game tightened. Behind a decisive fourth-quarter response, Maccabi erased a halftime deficit and edged Partizan Mozzart Bet 95-93 on Tuesday at Menora Mivtachim Arena.

The result moves Maccabi to 10-15 on the season, while Partizan drops to 8-17 after letting a strong middle-game stretch slip away.

How the game turned

Partizan set the tone early offensively, but Maccabi answered immediately. Tel Aviv took the first quarter 27-22, then watched the game flip in the second as Partizan strung together its best stretch of the night, winning the period 28-21 to take a 50-48 lead into halftime.

The third quarter stayed on a knife’s edge. Partizan kept scoring pressure on the rim and in the half court, taking the quarter 27-24 and building a 77-72 advantage entering the fourth.

Then the game changed in the final 10 minutes. Maccabi won the fourth 23-16 — the only quarter it clearly controlled after the opening period — and that swing was the entire margin. Partizan managed just 16 points in the closing frame, and Maccabi’s late execution was enough to survive by two.

Ball movement vs. late-game offense

Partizan finished with 23 assists, a sign it moved the ball well for long stretches and consistently generated offense through flow rather than isolation. Maccabi countered with 20 assists, leaning into its own pace and spacing to keep the scoreboard moving even when Partizan surged in the second and third quarters.

The difference came down to the final period: Maccabi’s ability to manufacture points late against a set defense, and Partizan’s inability to match that efficiency when possessions tightened.

By the numbers: quarter-by-quarter

Q1: Maccabi 27, Partizan 22

Q2: Partizan 28, Maccabi 21

Q3: Partizan 27, Maccabi 24

Q4: Maccabi 23, Partizan 16

What it means going forward

For Maccabi, this was a needed win in the context of a 10-15 record — not because it was pretty, but because it showed the ability to close a tight EuroLeague game after trailing late. For Partizan, now 8-17, the takeaway is harsher: the process produced for three quarters, but the finish didn’t. In a two-point game, the fourth quarter is the story, and Partizan’s 16-point closing stretch wasn’t enough.