By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In a game that will be forgotten very quickly and certainly shouldn’t be used as an advertisement for EuroLeague, Maccabi Tel Aviv beat an injury-plagued Unics Kazan 60 – 52 to improve its record to 7 – 13.
This is the same victory/defeat ratio of Unics that had its second lowest scoring output ever in Euroleague. Small wonder since Quino Colom and Artsiom Parakhouski were sidelined with injuries while mega-scorer Keith Langford dropped 10 less than his 22-point average and only after shooting 4/21 from the field.
Few players were distinguished from the winning side. Andrew Goudelock was one of them by scoring 17 points while Yogev Ohayon added 10. Devin Smith had 9 plus 6 rebounds.
Orlando Johnson was the top scorer for Unics with 13 points and could’ve quite possibly finished with more if he wasn’t fouled out early in the fourth period when the score was 45 – 42.
That was a turning point since the hosts lashed for a 7 – 0 run that handed them a double-digit lead 52 – 42. With the Russian squad empty of offensive solutions, this kind of advantage was more than enough.
Both teams performed poorly on offense and while Unics had some minor excuses due to its many injuries (and because Langford can’t wear a hero-cape every single night), Maccabi once again presented a disappointing picture on court. Still they had managed a 33 – 24 lead at halftime.
Instead of finishing the job in the third quarter, the Israelis lost some ground and watched Unics making it a one possession game afterwards. But the guests lacked the manpower to be competitive until the end and Maccabi assumed a small, yet steady control that kept them safe until the final buzzer.