Mac TA draws first blood from Hap J’lem

After a sloppy first half, Maccabi seized control after the break to take the lead in the best-of-five series.

By ALLON SINAI
Maccabi Tel Aviv's Lior Eliyahu 370 (photo credit: Adi Avishai)
Maccabi Tel Aviv's Lior Eliyahu 370
(photo credit: Adi Avishai)
A feisty Maccabi Tel Aviv took a 1-0 lead over Hapoel Jerusalem in the BSL semifinals on Monday night, claiming a 91-73 win at Nokia Arena.
After a sloppy first half, Maccabi seized control after the break to take the lead in the best-of-five series.
Lior Eliyahu scored 22 points for the winners, with Shawn James adding 21 points.
Maccabi improved to 22-3 in the playoffs against Jerusalem.
Maccabi coach David Blatt also extended his amazing playoff record with the yellow- and-blue to 26-0.
Hapoel will hope to level the series when it hosts Game 2 at Malha Arena on Thursday.
In the other semifinal series, Maccabi Haifa opened a 1-0 advantage over Hapoel Eilat on Sunday. Eilat hosts Game 2 on Wednesday.
On Monday, Jerusalem looked sharp throughout the first half but still entered the break down by three points.
A tight first quarter ended in a 22-20 Hapoel lead and the visitors were ahead by five points (35-30) late in the half.
However, Maccabi ended the second period with an 8- 0 run to move into the lead.
Maccabi blew the game open at the start of the second half, leading by as many as 15 points (54-39).
Jerusalem never gave up the chase but Maccabi didn’t allow Hapoel to close within striking distance and clinched the series opener.