Mac TA aims for quick Euroleague rebound vs Khimki

Both Maccabi and Khimki were on the wrong side of a longrange shooting clinic on Tuesday.

By ALLON SINAI
Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Neven Spahija is confident his team can bounce back when it faces Khimki Moscow in Russia tonight, two days after losing to Efes Istanbul by 20 points at Yad Eliyahu Arena (photo credit: ADI AVISHAI)
Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Neven Spahija is confident his team can bounce back when it faces Khimki Moscow in Russia tonight, two days after losing to Efes Istanbul by 20 points at Yad Eliyahu Arena
(photo credit: ADI AVISHAI)
Maccabi Tel Aviv visits Khimki Moscow on Thursday night in its latest stop in the Euroleague roller-coaster.
After dropping to its lowest point of the campaign to date with a 20-point home loss (92- 72) to Efes Istanbul on Tuesday, the yellow-and-blue faces a Khimki team reeling from a 28-point (93-65) humbling at Panathinaikos.
Like Maccabi, Khimki had also entered Tuesday’s game after a promising start to the campaign, winning five of its first six contests, including all four home encounters.
Both Maccabi and Khimki were on the wrong side of a longrange shooting clinic on Tuesday.
Efes, which outscored Maccabi 18-4 in the final six minutes, netted 14-of-25 three-points attempts, with Errick McCollum hitting 8-of-11 shots from distance to finish with 31 points.
Marcus Denmon was the thorn in Khimki’s side, scoring 7-of-9 from beyond the arc on his way to 24 points, with Panathinaikos converting 17-of-27 long-range attempts overall, the most by any team in the competition since March 2015.
Alexey Shved had 17 points for Khimki and he is averaging 19 points and 4.6 assists per game.
The contest at Khimki is the start of an especially challenging Euroleague stretch for Maccabi.
Over the next five weeks, the yellow- and-blue plays seven games, including four on the road against Khimki, Barcelona, CSKA Moscow and Panathinaikos.
“We lost but I’m not frustrated,” said Maccabi coach Neven Spahija after the defeat to Efes.
“They played unbelievable basketball and scored unbelievable threes. We missed open shots including layups. At the end of the day we lost to a better team.”
Despite the heavy defeat and falling to a 4-3 record, Spahija seemed to take the setback in his stride.
“We don’t need to be frustrated and we don’t need to be down. We know very well who we are and what we want to do,” he noted. “We have to continue and try to do better. There are 23 games left. No team has enough energy to win every game and perform to 100 percent every game.
“This is our worst game and our worst loss, but I don’t want to be frustrated.”
Tel Aviv coach Neven Spahija is confident his team can bounce back when it faces Khimki Moscow in Russia tonight, two days after losing to Efes Istanbul by 20 points at Yad Eliyahu Arena.