By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Zalgiris Kaunas remained alive in the race for the 2023 EuroLeague playoffs by beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 68 – 67 at home. Despite the defeat, Maccabi mathematically punched a quarterfinals ticket with a round remaining for the completion of the regular season.
One free throw by Isaiah Taylor with 21 seconds remaining proved to be enough to hand Zalgiris the win. On the other end, Wade Baldwin missed the jumper for Maccabi but the Yellows still advanced to the playoffs for a second straight season. If Taylor made both of his free throws, Maccabi would still have to wait to secure their postseason spot.
“I am still shaking, but we are in the race,” said Zalgiris coach Kazys Maksvytis on the last intense moments. “I am very happy and proud of our team. Congratulations to our fans one more time.”
Taylor finished with 12 points while Rolands Smits led all Zalgiris scorers with 13 points in what was mostly a tough defensive battle from both sides. Jarrell Martin had 12 points for Maccabi and Wade Baldwin finished with 12 points plus 10 assists. He made one of out his seven 3-point attempts and it was this crazy shot.
After trailing 22 – 29 a bit before the break, Zalgiris caught up and held a minor lead in most of the second half. With five mintues to play and the score 65 – 61, Maccabi scored six unanswered points to go ahead 65 – 67 with 2:37 remaining.
That was the last they scored in the game though. Ulanovas tied the score and then Martin missed a 3-pointer and Nebo lost two back-to-back baskets under paint after offensive rebounds. Taylor then hit the go-ahead free throws that decided the outcome
“Everybody understood that needs to play better defense [in the second half],” said Smits. “Needed to fight for every ball, and we did that. We started playing more as a team, put more energy until the last second. I did not feel nervous, but it was a very hard game and I am happy about my team. I knew Baldwin was going to attack [on the last play], I think we played pretty good defense and did good on the last rebound.”
Maccabi coach Oded Kattash had the best to say for the Zalgiris’ efforts. “Zalgiris won with a lot of heart. They played hard,” Kattash said. “It was a tough game, with high intensity. Offensively, in the second half, we missed a lot of shots, sometimes really good shots. Defensively we played the second half better than the first half, we did the right things to win the game, but unlucky in the end.”