By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv improved their winning streak at home to five games after defeating ALBA Berlin 87-74 in Round 20 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
They managed to grab their eleventh victory of the season thanks to a great game from Wade Baldwin, who took over after Lorenzo Brown got injured and finished the match with a career-high 33 points and a PIR of 35.
“I felt good, especially seeing my first three go in”, Baldwin admitted after the game.
“I was 0 for 13 in my last attempts so it was good to get a couple of today. Everybody stayed together, we made shots, and we had guys contribute all over the bench. You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Rafi [Menco], he hit a couple of big threes and a left-handed floater. We’ve had guys come in and impact the game in various ways. Lorenzo [Brown] went down and other guys stepped up.”
Bonzie Colson followed Baldwin with 11 points, while Darrun Hilliard scored nine.
Αs Maccabi coach Oded Kattash said with a rare smile after the end of the game: “I told you at halftime, I liked the way we played, except the first few minutes of the second quarter. We missed some key players, two important guards, but I liked the way the players stepped up.”
For ALBA, Gabriele Procida and Jaleen Smith got 12 points each, as 11 players of the Berlin team got on the scoring sheet.
The hosts had a great opening, got themselves a double-digit advantage after a 15-4 run, and even improved it to 25-10 after the first ten minutes.
But Lorenzo Brown couldn’t continue the match due to an ankle injury, and ALBA started catching their breath. They got within just seven minutes in the last moments of the second quarter, but Maccabi managed to regain a double-digit lead before the break (38-28).
Led by Baldwin, Maccabi kept their advantage even after the break and entered the last period with a 63-50 lead. ALBA refused to give up and with an 8-2 run, got again within seven.
Baldwin then took matters into his own hands and repelled the guests with several quick points. After that, his teammates quickly finished the game in Maccabi’s favor.
As ALBA Berlin head coach Israel Gonzalez said: “Congratulations to Maccabi, they are a very good team. Today Baldwin played very well and we couldn’t stop him.”