Maccabi Tel Aviv is finalizing its preparation before facing Baskonia at its home away from home in Belgrade for No. 7 vs No. 8 Euroleague Play In game at the Stark Arena on Tuesday night after the yellow-and-blue finished off the regular season with a 92-86 victory over Milano and a 20-14 record.
Baskonia ended up in eighth place after it slipped by Bologna, which will play in the second Play In game against Anadolu EFES. Should Maccabi defeat Baskonia, it will officially finish in seventh place and then play Panathinaikos, which ended the regular season campaign in second place, in a best-of-5 quarterfinal series.
However, if the yellow-and-blue falls to Baskonia, then it will have one last chance to qualify for the postseason with a win over the winner of the 9-vs-10 Play In game between Anadolu EFES and Bologna in a matchup that would be slated for Friday.
Maccabi split the two games that it played against Baskonia this season, with a yellow-and-blue 89-81 victory in Belgrade and a 92-82 defeat in Spain. Dusko Ivanovic’s team features a number of extremely dangerous players including Markus Howard, who is one of the league’s most lethal scorers in Europe averaging 19.4 points per game this season, while Cody Miller-McIntyre became one of only a handful of players to ever record a triple-double in Euroleague history.
Add into the mix Chima Moneke, Matt Costello, Vanja Marinkovic and Taras Sedekeris and Baskonia finds itself fifth overall in points scored per game at 84.2. Maccabi is in second in the category with 87.7 points a contest, while both teams are neck-and-neck in rebounds with the yellow-and-blue pulling down an average 36 and Baskonia collecting 35.2 boards per game.
Baskonia does hold an advantage from beyond the arc with 10.4 triples to Maccabi’s 8.7, which should concern Oded Katash and his perimeter defense, but from 2-point range Maccabi averages 23 per game while Baskonia checks in with 19.5.
However, before Maccabi Tel Aviv tips off against Baskonia, it had to take care of some domestic league play as it defeated Hapoel Holon 91-82 to win its 16th straight game in the premier Israeli competition.
The Purples kept the game close throughout, but when it came to fourth-quarter crunch time, both Wade Baldwin and Lorenzo Brown scored key baskets to send the yellow-and-blue to the win.
Brown and Baldwin both scored 14 points, Tamir Blatt added 11 points while Josh Nebo and Roman Sorkin chipped in with 10 points apiece in the win. Justin Smith paced the visitors with 20 points while Kevin Hervey scored 17 points in the loss.
The big men for both teams carried the scoring over the course of the opening 10 minutes as Jake Cohen and Josh Nebo scored inside for Maccabi Tel Aviv, while Justin Smith and Kevin Hervey did the same for Hapoel Holon. In an end-to-end frame, host Tel Aviv held a 27-24 after the first quarter.
Hervey and Yotam Hanochi helped Amit Sherf’s team jump out in front in the second quarter, but solid play from Roman, Brown and Antonius Cleveland sent Katash’s squad into halftime with a 45-43 advantage.
Smith scored at will for the visitors while Netanel Arzti added points as well in the third quarter, but Tamir Blatt and Rafi Menco countered to keep Maccabi narrowly in front 67-65 after 30 minutes of action.
The duo of Baldwin and Brown took over the game in the fourth quarter as the latter hit a pair of triples as time wound down to sew up the win.
“We found the way to win in a tough game and the guys deserve a lot of credit,” Katash said. “We are a team that has had the quality, but in this game we found the energy. We won through our offense and we are in the midst of a very busy time.”
Katash also couldn’t help but look ahead from the Holon game to the Euroleague Play In.
“Everyone understands that Baskonia’s Markus Howard is an excellent scorer and we have to pay attention to that. We perhaps can take some things from this game, but we have to make sure that we are there mentally. We are proud as to how we played throughout the regular season and we have to do the same now in the Play In. It’s just too bad that we can’t play here in Tel Aviv.”
Winning is "what Maccabi does," says MVP
Brown, the game’s MVP, also spoke about the win.
“It’s been a difficult process but staying focused and together and doing what Maccabi does, which is win. We have a bunch of great scorers on our team. The fan support has been great even though it’s been from afar. As for myself, I feel that I am healthy and it’s been a good three months since I was feeling like myself. As for Baskonia, if we keep our head above water and fight and do what we are doing for the most part of the season then we will get the job done.”
In other local action, Hapoel Jerusalem got by Hapoel Galil Elyon 80-71 as Levi Randolph’s huge fourth quarter helped the Reds come back from a 66-61 deficit after 30 minutes to take the win.
Randolph scored 18 points, JaCorey Williams added 13 points and Speedy Smith scored 12 points for Jerusalem in the win. Roi Huber paced Galil Elyon with 18 points and James Feldeine chipped in with 11 points in the loss.
“We have to give credit to Hapoel Galil Elyon,” Jerusalem’s interim coach Yonatan Alon said. “We made some tactical changes in the second half which worked out for us to take the win. We tried the two big men together, which we hadn’t done in the past, but it worked out well for us here in this game. As for the security situation, the players know that they are in good hands as they have always been this season.”