2020-21Regular SeasonRound 15
FC Barcelona 67
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 68
December 18, 2020 CET: 21:00
Local time: 21:00 PALAU BLAUGRANA

Maccabi gets historical win in Barcelona

In a battle between classic powerhouses that went to the final shot, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv registered its first win at Palau Blagrana in more than 15 years by topping host FC Barcelona 67-68 on Friday. Othello Hunter stole the show with the go-ahead alley-oop slam with 13.2 seconds remaining. Maccabi improved to 6-9 in the standings while Barcelona dropped to 11-4 and is now in second place. Dragan Bender led the winners with 15 points. Tyler Dorsey added 14 while Elijah Bryant and Hunter each had 10 for Maccabi. Cory Higgins led Barcelona with 16 points, but missed the game's final shot seconds before the buzzer. Kyle Kuric and Nikola Mirotic each added 12 while Nick Calathes had 11 for the hosts, who were without center Brandon Davies due to a last-minute injury. Mirotic added 10 rebounds for a double-double.

Mirotic got Barcelona going with a fallaway jumper and Calathes added a driving layup for a 4-1 lead. Bryant and Hunter each scored under the rim to put Maccabi ahead, 4-5. Bender followed a power layup with a jumper but Mirotic and Calathes kept the hosts within 8-9. Bender hit a running hook and Hunter added an alley-oop slam but Higgins brought Barcelona within 12-13. Omri Casspi scored down low and Ante Zizic added a jump hook that restored a 12-17 Maccabi lead after 10 minutes. Rolands Smits hit a close shot early in the second quarter and Kuric sank a triple that tied it at 17-17. Dorsey struck from downtown and Bender scored off an inbound pass but Kuric answered for a 22-22 tie. Bender kept pacing Maccabi, getting help from Bryant and Scottie Wilbekin to make the guests regain a 25-30 margin. Mirotic had 6 points in a 7-0 run that put Barcelona in charge, 32-30, at halftime. Smits, Wilbekin and Higgins each buried a three-pointer immediately after the break. Angelo Caloiaro scored twice down low in a 0-6 run that Bender capped with an alley-oop basket for a 38-39 Maccabi lead. Mirotic and Higgins fueled an 8-1 run highlighted by Calathes's one-handed runner, restoring a 46-42 Barcelona edge. Artem Pustovyi took over with an alley-oop and Higgins added a layup but Bryant and Dorsey made Maccabi regain a 52-53 lead. Alex Abrines put the hosts back ahead, 54-53, after 30 minutes. Dorsey bettered Higgins's driving layup with a three-point play early in the fourth quarter. Pustovyi and Hunter traded dunks, then Chris Jones floated one in for a 59-60 Maccabi lead with under 7 minutes left. Bryant found space for an uncontested layup but Calathes and Kuric each nailed a triple to provide another lead change, 65-63. Calathes downed a floater to cap an 8-0 run but Dorsey and Wilbekin gave Maccabi hope, 67-66, with 1:28 to go. Wilbekin found Hunter for a huge alley-oop slam, giving the guests a 67-68 lead with 13.2 seconds remaining. Higgins missed from beyond the arc in Barcelona's final possession.

Pivotal performer

Hunter not only provided one of Maccabi's highlights this season with the game-winning alley-oop dunk and the key defensive stop, but did a little bit of everything to make sure his team won the game. He finished with 10 points, 5 rebounds, an assist, a steal and 3 blocks.

Game-changing moment

Barcelona led 67-63 with over 3 minutes left but Maccabi helds its opponent scoreless in crunch time. Meanwhile, Dorsey split free throws, Wilbekin buried a couple of attempts and Hunter detonated the alley-oop dunk to put Maccabi ahead, 67-68. Barcelona had a final chance to win the game but Hunter got the key defensive stop, taking Higgins one-on-one and making him take a tough shot which didn't go in.

Stellar stats

Maccabi pulled down 14 offensive rebounds and held Barcelona to just 10. It also had 19 assists, 8 more than the hosts. Maccabi had 6 blocks and Barca only one. Those small details were decisive in a game that went down to the wire.

Did you know?

Maccabi grabbed its first win at Palau Blaugrana in more than 15 years. Maccabi's last road win against Barcelona came on December 15, 2005, 78-88, behind 24 points from Tal Burstein. Barcelona had won its previous 10 home games against the Israeli powerhouse. After this, their 44th showdown, Barcelona now has a 27-17 winning record in their all-time series.

Next game

Both teams return to EuroLeague action early next week in Round 16. Barcelona visits Anadolu Efes Istanbul, featuring former players Tibor Pleiss, Adrien Moerman and Chris Singleton, on Tuesday, December 22. Later that day, Maccabi hosts Panathinaikos OPAP Athens.

Dragan Bender - Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv - EB20
Friday, December 18, 2020
Euroleague.net
Referees: BELOSEVIC, ILIJA; BOLTAUZER, MATEJ; VYKLICKY, ROBERT
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
FC Barcelona12202213
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv17132315
End of Quarter1234
FC Barcelona12325467
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv17305368
FC Barcelona
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
8 HANGA, ADAM 12:11   0/1 0/2     1 1 2   4     3   -7
9 BOLMARO, LEANDRO 0:29                         1   -1
10 SMITS, ROLANDS 22:12 5 1/2 1/1   2 4 6 1 2 2   1 4 4 10
13 HEURTEL, THOMAS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
14 PUSTOVYI, ARTEM 13:06 8 2/2   4/4       1 2 2 1   4 4 10
18 ORIOLA, PIERRE 9:59   0/1     1 2 3     2   1 4 1 -4
21 ABRINES, ALEX 16:34 3 0/2 0/1 3/3               2 1 1 -2
22 HIGGINS, CORY 33:20 16 5/10 2/3     1 1 2 1     1 2 2 13
23 MARTINEZ, SERGI 5:07           1 1 1             2
24 KURIC, KYLE 24:30 12 1/3 3/8 1/2 2 1 3     1     1 1 6
33 MIROTIC, NIKOLA 34:43 12 3/8   6/8 1 9 10   1 1   1 2 8 20
99 CALATHES, NICK 27:49 11 4/5 1/5   1 2 3 4   1     3   9
Team           3 1 4     1         3
Totals 200:00 67 16/34 7/20 14/17 10 22 32 11 6 14 1 6 25 21 59
        47.1% 35% 82.4%
Head coach: JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
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 22:33 10 4/7   2/2   3 3 5 1 1     5 3 13
1 WILBEKIN, SCOTTIE 24:57 7 1/1 1/4 2/2   2 2 6 2 2     1 3 14
3 JONES, CHRIS 14:28 2 1/2 0/1     1 1 3 2       1   5
4 CALOIARO, ANGELO 26:27 4 2/6     3 4 7 1       1 1 1 7
5 HUNTER, OTHELLO 27:56 10 4/10   2/5 2 3 5 1 1 4 3   1 3 9
7 CASSPI, OMRI 9:45 2 1/2           1         2    
11 DORSEY, TYLER 22:42 14 1/5 2/6 6/7   2 2   1 2     3 8 11
12 DIBARTOLOMEO, JOHN 2:37 2     2/2 1 1 2           1 1 4
14 BLAYZER, OZ 10:36     0/1   1   1       2     3 5
17 BENDER, DRAGAN 20:31 15 7/10 0/1 1/2 1 1 2 1     1   5 3 12
23 ZIZIC, ANTE 12:04 2 1/2     2 1 3 1   1     1   3
50 ZOOSMAN, YOVEL 5:24     0/2   2 2 4     1         1
Team           2 1 3               3
Totals 200:00 68 22/45 3/15 15/20 14 21 35 19 7 11 6 1 21 25 87
        48.9% 20% 75%
Head coach: SFAIROPOULOS, IOANNIS

Head Coaches

JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
FC Barcelona
"Congratulations to Ioannis and to Maccabi. I thought that, from the beginning of the game, we knew it was going to be difficult. It was going to be physical and completely different from the Khimki game. I thought the guys really prepared well. I thought we really struggled offensively in the first half. It took us time to understand the game plan of Maccabi, that it was some of the situations that they already did and we prepared against, switch-all defense. We prepared against double-teaming from the baseline in the situation of the mismatches, especially our power forward against their two-position player. That was all game. We didn't manage to punish it. In the second half, I think we already had control of the game and then in those situations, in the big games like this, the details will decide the game. One rebound, one foul after the bonus... Of course, I thought that we also missed a lot of shots which would have closed the game for us, but it is not one of those games that we lost the game because of the effort. The effort of the guys was great. Some of my players couldn't even walk after the game because our rotation was a bit short. We made a great effort but were not able to win."
SFAIROPOULOS, IOANNIS
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"I want to congratulate our players for the great effort that they showed tonight. I think that, from the very first moment, we were very focused to the plan that we had. We were fighting also to support the plan, and for this reason, I think that it was very important how we played the game. It is not easy to keep Barcelona in their home court 20 points lower than the average that they have, because they had 86 and we kept them to 67. I think that the first period, when they scored 12, and the last, when they scored 13, were very crucial because in the first period, we put the way of how we want to play the game and in the last, we gave our maximum, all that we had, to win the game. There are numbers that prove how well we played. You can look at the assist-to-turnover ratio, that we had 19 assists against 11 turnovers, and we forced 14 turnovers against 11 assists to Barcelona. Also the PIR, if you see, it is 59 to 87 for us. So I think these numbers show that we played a good game and I want to congratulate our players for this win. I want to wish good luck to Barcelona and my good friend Saras."

Players

BENDER, DRAGAN
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"I'm happy we won the game. We had a tough week after losing Wednesday's game. We came out motivated to win this one tonight. From the first moment, we were aggressive, and we deserve the win. We definitely have to improve some things, close the quarters better, and be smarter, but this is a huge win for us. We deserved this win after a couple of losses like this one earlier this season, so it's definitely great to win one like this."
WILBEKIN, SCOTTIE
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"The first half was kind of slow-paced and in the second half, both teams got it going a little bit more. But we just tried to dig down and get stops, and we got them, especially that last stop. Othello [Hunter] did a good job of playing defense. In a one-point game, small details, a rebound here, a free throw there, that is what judges the game."
BRYANT, ELIJAH
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"I think that Coach [Sfairopoulos] instills confidence in us and tells us we are Maccabi, we going to fight until the end no matter what the score is, and I think tonight we got one because of that. I think we are focused on the next-play mentality, so we will enjoy this one tonight and then tomorrow focus on the next game."
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