By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Saben Lee made headlines last week with his move to Maccabi and he totally deserved it. With 23 points and five assists, including the pass for the game-winning shot to Jaylen Hoard, Lee led Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv to the 93-91 win over Anadolu Efes on a night to remember.
Playing at Belgrade, Maccabi has a solid 2-1 start in the season with the big help of Hoard (18 p.) and Tamir Blatt (14 p.) who made one of the biggest shots of the game.
On the other side, Vincent Poirier had a huge game with 22 points, the newcomer from the NBA Jordan Nwora had his best game yet in the season with 21 points but it was not enough.
Shane Larkin had eight points and eight assists but missed all his six attempted threes, including the potential game-winner at the buzzer.
However, Efes coach Tomislav Mijatovic supported him: “Our game was not at the level we wanted. Dan Oturu injured his wrist in the middle of the match. Shane Larkin was also not in the form he wanted after returning from injury and he was injured again during the match. These affected us”.
A real derby
Efes had a good start (18-9) with Poirier scoring at will, but Maccabi was trailing by one point at the end of the first period (24-23) and got the 27-26 lead after an impressive dunk by Lee early in the second.
The game turned into a dogfight with the score being tied at 52 at halftime and Efes leading by two (74-72) entering the fourth quarter.
It was obvious that the game would be decided on details and thanks to Lee’s scoring ability Maccabi built a crucial four-point cushion (88-84) entering the last two minutes.
Efes tied the score at 88 with veterans Larkin and Beaubois scoring and with 69 seconds left, Tamir Blatt made a huge three (91-88). Jordan Nwora answered back to tie the score at 91 with 21 seconds left. Lee made the assist to Hoard for the score (93-91), Larkin took the last shot and he missed.
Photo credit: EuroLeague