By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Lorenzo Brown picked up an injury, but Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv survived the overtime battle with Real Madrid to secure the win, 100-96, Thursday.
Despite exiting with an ankle sprain, the EuroBasket champion with Spain last summer logged a team-high 22 points to with six assists and four rebounds over 33 minutes in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 34 nail-biter.
“It’s great. I just got a little bump. But I am ready for the next game,” Brown commented on the injury looking forward to the Playoffs.
Contributing to the convincing edge of 49-37 in rebounds, Josh Nebo posted a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double. In a similar input, Bonzie Colson registered 14 points and nine boards. Jalen Adams (shoulder), Austin Hollins (knee), and Alex Poythress (hand) all remained on the sidelines along with domestic-based veteran forward Guy Pnini.
“The fans kept pushing us to go harder. We were very tired. But the fans kept supporting us,” pointed out Nebo crediting the Yellows fans after combining the huge win with reaching the 500-point mark in the top-tier club continental competition of Europe, “I think that was the extra push we needed.”
Concluding the Regular Season at 20-14 with a league-high 15-2 home tally behind the support of the Menora Mivtachim Arena crowd, the team coached by Oded Kattash took the fifth seed of the Playoffs bracket. Fourth-seeded AS Monaco carrying the homecourt advantage follows in a best-of-five series for a ticket to the Final Four.
“We got time to prepare for that,” the Maccabi boss replied to a question about La Roca Team, “Monaco is a great and talented team.” Leading Israel’s Winner League with a 20-3 record, his side will play host to Hapoel Nofar Galil Elion Tuesday and visit Ironi Hai Motors Ness Ziona Thursday before switching to the leaders of France’s Betclic Elite LNB Pro A.
Clasico coming up
Guerschon Yabusele with 25 points set a new personal best for the 2022-23 season but was not enough. Dzanan Musa had 20 points. Gabriel Deck tallied 16 points, including a couple of free throws to set up five extra minutes with 22.5 seconds remaining in regulation. Sergio Llull (knee), Carlos Alocen (knee), Nigel Williams-Goss (thigh), and Vincent Poirier (abdomen) were not available for the team coached by Chus Mateo in Israel. In addition, Rudy Fernandez dealing with an illness was limited to a seven-minute showing.
“It was very tough. It’s not easy to win here in Tel Aviv,” noted the play-caller of the reigning ACB champions after wrapping up the Regular Season with a joint-high ten wins in 17 away games, “We tried our best, competed until the end. They had luck at the end because both teams could have won today.”
The visitors actually recovered from a 13-0 run stretching between the middle quarters but conceding 16 offensive rebounds and missing ten of 36 free throws proved impossible complications. They were unable to provide yet another response in overtime. Adam Hanga hurting his left knee, shortly after towering center and EuroLeague’s all-time block leader Walter Tavares fouled out did not help.
Finishing the Regular Season at 23-11, the Whites will enter the Playoffs bracket as second or third depending on FC Barcelona’s game versus Valencia tomorrow, Friday. Regardless, Sunday’s domestic version of the famous Clasico series will break a 21-5 tie between the archrivals in second place in the Liga Endesa standings.
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net