By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Two days after suffering a defeat at home to Anadolu Efes, Maccabi Tel Aviv recovered in fashion by defeating Khimki Moscow 77 – 69 on the road to improve its EuroLeague record to 5-3.
The “Week from Hell” ended in the worst possible way for Khimki that is now 5-3 after two consecutive losses.
Despite relying only on small outbursts plus Thomas Robinson’s aggressiveness (17 points, 13 rebounds and a game-high 29 in PIR) and rarely holding a lead, the hosts had a pretty good chance to win down the stretch.
Yet with the score 67 – 68 and two minutes remaining, the team’s “go-to-guys”, Alexey Shved (21 points but also 7 turnovers and James Anderson (13 points). missed one open 3-pointer each. On the other end, Norris Cole struck in transition with a 3-point play and his team never looked back.
It’s safe to say that Maccabi deserved it since they were in control for the majority of the match, backed by a splendid 19 – 28 and Pierre Jackson (19 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds) inflicting all sorts of damage to the opposing defense.
While Khimki chewed up much of that deficit, it didn’t become dangerous until the mid of the third period when Shved pulled out his guns to handle his team a 50 – 46 lead. However, that was the last the Russians would be up in the score.