By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Tyler Dorsey posted a dominant 25-point performance to lead Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv to an 85-73 victory on the road over ALBA Berlin in Round 18 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
“Every game is a must-win for us. And that’s the mindset we have to have going into every game because we’re trying to climb back up into the playoffs. You hit a couple of shots and the basket gets bigger and bigger, but I give a lot of credit to my teammates for finding me off screens, finding me in catch-and-shoot spots where I just have to step into them. It’s like taking those practice shots. After a while when you get a rhythm, it feels good”, he commented post-game.
Dorsey helped his team return on the winning track and improve to an 8-10 record, while he signed off with 4-5 from the three-point line and a total PIR of 27.
Angelo Caloiaro and Dragan Bender added up to Dorsey’s efforts with 16 and 13 points each, while Chris Jones contributed 7 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds in 16 minutes.
Crippled ALBA (Luke Sikma, Niels Giffey and coach Aito Garcia Reneses absent) won its Tuesday makeup game against Baskonia after a nerve-wracking finale, though fell short to their visitors with an underproductive performance in the first half.
Jayson Granger paced the German side with a double-double of 13 points and 11 assists along with 6 rebounds, while Simone Fontecchio was the leading scorer with 15 points.
Once again, Johannes Thiemann stepped up for the hosts and produced 11 points and 5 rebounds and Ben Lammers had 10 points in less than 15 minutes. After tonight’s result, ALBA falls to a 7-11 record, with four consecutive defeats in the last four rounds.
Photo: EuroLeague