By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
It was a tough week for the defending champions of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. First, they lost in Belgrade against Crvena Zvezda (94-75), Ergin Ataman was ejected, then to top things off, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv demolished Anadolu Efes in one of the poorest performances of the champs for the season as the final 86-64 demonstrates.
“Maccabi played a great game, Baldwin and Lorenzo Brown. In the second half, we tried to push the game with full-court pressure but they deserved to win. We played terribly tonight“, Anadolu Efes Istanbul head coach Ergin Ataman said.
After this result, Efes fell behind in the race for the playoff spot having a 13-14 record and having played one game less. Maccabi now has 15 victories and is in the mix with Partizan, Baskonia, and Zalgiris on a four-way tie.
Wade Baldwin led the way for Maccabi with 23 points. Jarell Martin followed with 13 points, while Lorenzo Brown added 11 points and eight assists.
“It is our fourth [road] win of the year. It doesn’t come around too often, but we are happy to get this win. Obviously, there are only six games left at this point, so to win against both of these Turkish teams this week has been unbelievable. It is very tough to beat Fenerbahce and the defending champions, so we are extremely happy and now have a home game against Baskonia next week“, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv guard Wade Baldwin said after the game.
For Efes, Will Clyburn scored 12 points. Shane Larkin only added five points, and so did Vasilije Micic but the Serbian point guard only played nine minutes.
Plus Rodrigue Beaubois rolled his ankle again and coach Ergin Ataman explained why he asked – and was denied – to postpone the upcoming Turkish League game of his team, plus he admitted that the injury woes of Efes are putting the season in danger.
A masterpiece by Maccabi
The first quarter of the match was an offensive masterpiece from Maccabi. The Tel Aviv club scored 33 points and raced to a double-digit lead (33-20). But that was nowhere near the end of Efes’s problems.
The game was decided in the second quarter when Maccabi jumped out to a 13-0 run that Efes could not recover from (45-20). Not much changed in the second half as Maccabi enter the fourth quarter with a 20-point lead (68-48). The last 10 minutes were just a formality.
“It is a great win for us. We succeeded to beat two great teams [this week]. We showed a lot of character this week, but still, we have a lot of work ahead of us. If the ball goes in or not, sometimes you cannot control it as a coach. We had a great shooting night but I am proud of the way we played defense. Offensively, we shared the ball well and were lucky to hit those shots. But on defense, we were consistent“, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv head coach Oded Kattash said.