Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv opened the second round in the Euroleague in a particularly impressive way, with its biggest victory of the season in the factory. The yellows of Oded Ketch defeated the strong Zalgiris 78:95 in Belgrade, with a great team performance and with a promising debut of the new center Trebion Williams. The Maccabi will try to take this momentum into an away game at Kiryat Ata on Monday in the league.
the course of the game
Oded Ketch chose to open the game with a five that included Tamir Blatt and Rokas Iukovaitis in the back line, Leviathan Randolph and Jaylen Hurd in the forward positions and Roman Sorkin as center. For Zalgiris, the starting five consisted of Dovidas Geidaraitis, Lonnie Walker, Davidas Sirvidis, Edgaras Oulanovas and Bryant Dunston.
The opening in yellow-blue belonged to Yukovaitis, who shot a three-pointer, added two more in penetration and also grabbed a ball on the way to 6:7 for the host. Hurd also got into things with points from the line and an accurate three-pointer, which left the advantage on Maccabi’s side. Rokas continued to be eager with another steal that ended in his 11th point in just the first quarter, and Maccabi opened a gap. Williams, who made his debut, also showed what he knows with an assist to Horde and a steal that sent him to a dunk and a 10-point lead. After one quarter, Maccabi led 19:26.
Maccabi continued to look good in defense, with steals by Hurd and Jondi, and the Yellows also took advantage of this in the attack with a three-pointer by Blatt that brought them up to 22:35. The Maccabi’s momentum continued with 3-pointers by Sorkin and Yokobaitis, and the gap increased to 17 points. The Lithuanians managed to get a little closer through Siravidis, but points from DeJulios and Hurd allowed Ketch to go to the break with 38:50.
Maccabi continued to bring intensity in defense and determination in attack even at the start of the second half, with Sorkin, Hurd and Randolph responsible for a 0:9 run and a record lead of 21 points. But despite beautiful baskets by Williams in the paint, the yellow pace stopped a bit and Zalgiris took advantage of it to reduce the score to 55:67. A big basket by Randolph closed the third quarter with 56:71 for Maccabi.
Randolph started the last quarter with a successful three-pointer, and Maccabi maintained complete control. The Lithuanians missed endlessly from beyond the arc and on the other end Williams displayed his special passing ability with tremendous assists to Sorkin, including one behind the back, and also added a shot from the post up. It ended 78:95 for Maccabi.
ظهرت في الأصل على www.maccabi.co.il