Much was expected from the newly-promoted Heat ahead of the season and so far the team is more than living up to the preseason hype.
By ALLON SINAIido kozikaro 88(photo credit: )
Maccabi Haifa continued its impressive start to the season on Saturday night, thrashing Maccabi Rishon Lezion 81-54 on the road.
Much was expected from the newly-promoted Heat ahead of the season and so far the team is more than living up to the preseason hype.
Avi Ashkenazi's team, which played two difficult road games to start the season, defeated Ironi Ramat Gan 89-72 last week, but the coach isn't getting carried away just yet.
"We need to maintain this form," Ashkenazi said. "We got the job done in our first two games of the season, but I don't want to say too much. I know everybody is talking about our team, but I prefer we lower our profile at the moment."
Maccabi took a stranglehold on the encounter with a 13-2 run in the first period and cruised for the remainder of the game.
Haifa opened a 44-25 lead by halftime and led by as many as 30 points (69-39) at the start of the fourth quarter.
Davon Jefferson and BJ McKie led Haifa with 20 points each, with Ido Kozikaro adding 15 points.
Rishon, which shot an awful two of 24 from three-point range, was led by James Hughes, who scored 13 points.
On Sunday, Hapoel Holon will host Ironi Ramat Gan and look to build on its surprising season-opening win at Bnei Hasharon last week.
Despite all its off-season struggles, Holon recorded an impressive victory at Ra'anana and will now be confident of maintaining its perfect start to the season with a win in its home opener against Ramat Gan.
Also Sunday, two of the leagues new faces meet in Nesher, when Ironi Kiryat Ata hosts Maccabi Givat Shmuel.
The game between Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabi Tel Aviv has been rescheduled to November 20 due to Hapoel's Eurocup game at Unics Kazan on Tuesday evening.
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