Hapoel defeated Maccabi 99-88 in the Tel Aviv Euroleague derby that took place in Belgrade late Sunday night.
With the win, the Reds clinched a playoff berth and will battle it out for home-court advantage when they face Monaco in the Principality next week.
Dan Oturu, Vasilije Micic, and Elijah Bryant helped Hapoel to a quick lead while Oshae Brissett, Will Rayman, and Roman Sorkin answered for Maccabi. But points from Tai Odiase and Chris Jones gave the Reds a 52-41 advantage at halftime.
Antonio Blakeney started to find the bottom of the basket, while Lonnie Walker responded to keep the yellow-and-blue close, but Collin Malcolm was unstoppable down the stretch as Hapoel took the win.
Qualifying for the playoffs
Bryant scored 19 points, Malcolm added 16 points and Blakeney put in 14 points in the win for Hapoel while Walker scored 17 points, Sorkin scored 15 points and Brissett put in 13 points to lead Maccabi in the loss.
Hapoel coach Dimitrios Itoudis looked back at the win and qualifying for the playoffs.
“We still have one more game to go and want to get into the best position but we are playing a very good team as well in our last game. Every game was a challenge and still is a challenge.
“We never lost a spot in the playoff race and we want people to see the truth. We’re proud so far but the show must continue.”
Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Oded Katash spoke about the derby defeat.
“I liked how we played in the second half as we made things more difficult for them. We came off a very tough week and we played against a very talented team in this game.”
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