2020-21Regular SeasonRound 13
December 10, 2020 CET: 21:00
Local time: 21:00 BUESA ARENA

Maccabi defense holds off Baskonia

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv fought hard to pull out a 63-67 road win at TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz on Thursday night. It is the first time Maccabi won back-to-back games, improving its record to 5-8 - just two wins back behind the eighth place in the standings, while Baskonia dropped to 6-6 on the season. Baskonia had a double-digit lead in the first half, but Maccabi quickly rallied and the teams traded blows the rest of the way. Neither team had a lead bigger than 5 points in the second half and Maccabi stepped up defensively, holding the hosts to just 9 points in the final quarter to protect its slim lead. Tyler Dorsey led Maccabi with 15 points, including game-clinching free throws with 15 seconds to go. Othello Hunter added 12 points and Chris Jones netted 10 in a winning effort. Achille Polonara was everywhere for Baskonia with 15 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 blocks and 2 steals. Youssoupha Fall collected 14 points plus 6 rebounds and Pierria Henry had 11 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals in a losing effort.

Scottie Wilbekin opened the game with a triple, but the hosts scored the next 7 points with Tadas Sedekerskis hitting his first three of the season. Ante Zizic and Dragan Bender briefly got Maccabi going, tying the score at 9-9, but the hosts stormed ahead with a 9-0 run during which Polonara strung together 7 straight points, including a triple and a fastbreak alley-oop. Neither team scored for more than 3 minutes before Elijah Bryant hit a corner triple for Maccabi, but Tonye Jekiri's basket at the end of the first and Henry's floater to start the second opened a 22-12 margin. However, Maccabi answered with a run of 10 unanswered points, sparked by back-to-back triples from Dorsey and Yovel Zoosman. Also stepping up was Hunter with 6 points, offensive boards and delivering a big block as Maccabi went in front 24-28. Alec Peters scored a runner, but Hunter again scored inside and Dorsey nailed a right-corner triple to keep Maccabi in front. Henry scored 7 points late in the quarter for Baskonia, including a triple in the penultimate minute of the half, but the visitors went into halftime up 33-37.

Baskonia had a better start to the third quarter with Fall, Zoran Dragic and Polonara scoring all the points in an 8-2 run to restore the hosts' lead, 41-40. The teams traded close-range baskets and Baskonia found free-throw the free throw line to extend the lead 48-44 midway through the third. But Angelo Caloiaro and Jones sunk back-to-back threes to get Maccabi back in front. Jones and Caloiaro also each added a close-range basket to help Maccabi take a 54-56 lead into the third quarter. Baskets were few and far between at the start of the fourth, with a put-back from Rokas Giedraitis on one end and a triple from Jones on the other the only baskets in the first 4 minutes. Hunter's layup on Wilbekin's assist made it 56-61. Peters and Polonara got Baskonia back within a single point, but a runner from Bryant and Dorsey's driving layup made it 60-65. Polonara hit a triple with 1:54 to go as it was clear the game will go down to the wire, but the hosts never scored again as Dorsey's free throws with 15 seconds left sealed the outcome.

Key run

Maccabi's 2-16 run early in the second quarter did not decide the game, but it did turn a 10-point deficit into a 24-28 lead and it put Maccabi in control after a slow start.

Key contributor

During that run, Othello Hunter scored 8 of his 12 points and also had 3 of his 4 offensive rebounds plus a blocked shot. He accumulated a PIR of 15 during that stretch, changing the outlook of the game.

Bench rules

No Maccabi starter scored more than 5 points, which was how many points Scottie Wilbekin and Elijah Bryant each had in this game. But the visitors' bench stepped up, outscoring Baskonia's bench 49-13.

Baskonia trio

Youssoupha Fall was a force in the paint for Baskonia in the first three quarters. He had 14 points on 4-for-4 two-point shooting, made 6 of 6 foul shots and pulled down 6 rebounds. But he committed his fourth personal foul with 2.1 seconds left in third quarter and never returned to the game. Baskonia had fantastic all-round efforts from Achille Polonara and Pierria Henry who combined for 26 points and 13 rebounds. Polonara had 5 blocks, Henry had 4 steals, but it was not enough for the hosts.

Next up

Next week brings a two-round week in the EuroLeague and Baskonia will already be in action on Tuesday when it visits Zalgiris Kaunas, while Maccabi plays a day later on the road at LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne.

Tyler Dorsey - Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv - EB20
Thursday, December 10, 2020
Euroleague.net
Referees: LAMONICA, LUIGI; GKONTAS, SPIROS; RADOJKOVIC, JOSIP
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz2013219
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv12251911
End of Quarter1234
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz20335463
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv12375667
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 RAIESTE, SANDER DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
3 VILDOZA, LUCA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
5 JEKIRI, TONYE 8:20 2 1/3     2 1 3     2   1   1 1
7 HENRY, PIERRIA 35:03 11 4/9 1/5   2 4 6 5 4 4     3 2 12
8 SEDEKERSKIS, TADAS 19:42 6 0/1 2/4   1 4 5     1     2   5
12 DIOP, ILIMANE 5:18   0/1 0/1   1 1 2     1   1 1   -3
19 FALL, YOUSSOUPHA 19:08 14 4/4   6/6 3 3 6 1 1 2     4 5 21
25 PETERS, ALEC 24:48 4 2/2 0/4     1 1 2 1       2 1 3
30 DRAGIC, ZORAN 19:25 7 2/4 0/3 3/4         1     1 1 3 3
31 GIEDRAITIS, ROKAS 29:59 4 2/4 0/4   2 2 4 3   1         4
33 POLONARA, ACHILLE 35:04 15 4/7 2/6 1/2 4 4 8 6 2 2 5   2 4 28
47 KURUCS, ARTURS 3:13                         1   -1
Team           1 1 2     1         1
Totals 200:00 63 19/35 5/27 10/12 16 21 37 17 9 14 5 3 16 16 74
        54.3% 18.5% 83.3%
Head coach: IVANOVIC, DUSKO
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 BRYANT, ELIJAH 26:14 5 1/4 1/3     1 1 2 1 4       2 2
1 WILBEKIN, SCOTTIE 25:30 5 1/3 1/5   1 2 3 4 3 1   1 2 6 11
3 JONES, CHRIS 15:28 10 2/2 2/4     1 1 4             13
4 CALOIARO, ANGELO 26:18 7 2/3 1/3   1 2 3   1 1   1 1   5
5 HUNTER, OTHELLO 22:11 12 5/6   2/2 4 1 5 1     1   2 2 18
7 CASSPI, OMRI 9:11   0/1       1 1     1 1   1   -1
11 DORSEY, TYLER 28:26 15 2/3 3/6 2/2 1 4 5 3   2   1 1 2 17
12 DIBARTOLOMEO, JOHN 3:25               2         3   -1
14 BLAYZER, OZ 6:36 2 1/1       1 1 1         1   3
17 BENDER, DRAGAN 11:13 2 1/5 0/1   2 2 4 1   1   2 3   -4
23 ZIZIC, ANTE 16:05 4 1/3   2/2 1 2 3     2 1   1 3 6
50 ZOOSMAN, YOVEL 9:23 5   1/3 2/2   2 2   1       1 1 6
Team             2 2     1         1
Totals 200:00 67 16/31 9/25 8/8 10 21 31 18 6 13 3 5 16 16 76
        51.6% 36% 100%
Head coach: SFAIROPOULOS, IOANNIS

Head Coaches

IVANOVIC, DUSKO
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz

"A game that was decided by little details, by one ball, by one defense. We played very well on defense. We started well and started strong on defense. We had a good advantage but lost it far too early."

"Maccabi played good defense tonight. They are a team that plays good defense, but above all, we played too slow and our five-on-five offense was too slow and too predictable. I believe that some players have to recover physically because they played a lot of minutes. We have to play the way we do best: aggressive on defense, fast, and our offense has to be better than it was tonight, that's for sure."

SFAIROPOULOS, IOANNIS
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"I want to congratulate our players for the good game we had tonight, especially on defense. I think Baskonia is a good offensive team, they can score easily in a lot of different ways, in transition, after offensive rebounding, with shooters, with drives, with drive and kick game. We knew if we did not play defense, we would not have a chance in the game, and that is why I want to congratulate my players because we followed our game plan, and we had our best game defensively so far. I think that it was very important that in the last quarter we allowed only 9 points. That is when Baskonia, especially here at home, had its best scoring quarter. Offensively, I think we moved the ball, we played smart, we tried to attack the weak parts of their defense and they are also a good defensive team. I think we had a lot of open shots and I think we did a good job offensively and that is why we controlled the rhythm of the game and that was very important. We had some games in the past that we lost in the last minute, six out of our eight defeats we lost in the last minute by a margin of 4 points or less. I think tonight we did everything the right way, we were very concentrated in every part of the game, especially at the end in the crucial moments, to play good defense and to score some easy baskets at the end to win the game. I want to wish good luck to Baskonia."

Players

HUNTER, OTHELLO
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"I feel good. We all played great defense, at the end of the day. We tried to get back to Maccabi ball. Everybody fought hard for the win, that's all that matters. We've been losing. We want to win. So everybody knew we want to come in here and try to fight. We got a great team so we just did what we have to do."
DORSEY, TYLER
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"I would say the stops we were getting were the key for us. We had a game plan coming into the game, they are a good transition team, they've been scoring a lot this season. Defensively we got stops and that was a big key for us. Fall, we know he is big, and when he gets it down there, he got a lot of buckets tonight. But we controlled everybody else, that's how we got the win tonight."
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