2021-22Regular SeasonRound 20
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 87
ALBA Berlin 78
January 25, 2022 CET: 20:15
Local time: 21:15 MENORA MIVTACHIM ARENA

Maccabi downs ALBA for second straight win

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv grabbed its second straight win and boosted its playoffs hopes by downing ALBA Berlin 87-78 in an entertaining Round 20 make-up game on Tuesday night. ALBA led for most of the first quarter but Maccabi surged ahead with a 9-0 run and led 47-39 at the break. The hosts had another strong run, 8-0, to move 65-48 ahead in the third quarter. ALBA fought back to 69-64 early in the fourth and 84-81 with two minutes remaining, but Maccabi found enough offense to complete the job. Scottie Wilbekin guided the hosts with 18 points and 6 assists, while Derrick Williams added 16, Jalen Reynolds and Ante Zizic both scored 14, and Kameron Taylor scored 11. Maodo Lo paced ALBA’s challenge with 18 points, Luke Sikma scored 12 and Yovel Zoosman netted 10 against his former club. Maccabi improves to 9-11, and ALBA is now 6-14.

Lo started hot with 5 fast points, but Maccabi kept pace through Williams and Keenan Evans. Ben Lammers scored twice, including a three-point play, and Lo netted again for a 7-12 lead. Zoosman, Taylor and Wilbekin were all on target from long-range before a driving score from Zoosman kept ALBA ahead, 15-19. Wilbekin and Reynolds tied things up, and the scoring was evenly traded as the first quarter ended 23-23. A jump hook from Reynolds to start the second provided Maccabi’s first lead, and he soon added three more scores for a 34-25 advantage. Lo reignited ALBA and Christ Koumadje scored three times underneath the basket, but a triple from Wilbekin and an alley-oop jam from Williams kept Maccabi ahead. Zizic added a pair of baskets, and it was 47-39 at half-time.

Lammers and Taylor traded two-point scores to start the second half, before Williams gave Maccabi a double-digit lead with a triple, 52-41. Zizic and Zoosman scored inside, before a triple from Zoosman was bettered by a dunk from Williams and layup from Wilbekin, 59-48. Reynolds, Taylor and John Di Bartolomeo extended the lead to 65-48, before Sikma revived ALBA with a three-pointer. Free throws and another Sikma basket made it 67-58 after three quarters. Jaleen Smith and Reynolds traded baskets early in the fourth, before Louis Olinde’s triple made it 69-64. Wilbekin and Zizic sent Maccabi further ahead, 76-66, midway through the final period. Evans protected the lead with a triple, before threeballs from Sikma and Lo gave ALBA hope, 79-76, with two minutes left. But Evans produced a two-handed slam before Di Bartolomeo and Williams triples sealed the deal.

Maccabi restricts ALBA’s long-range shooting

Maccabi came into the game with the league’s worst defense against three-point shooting, allowing its opponents to convert 38.2% of their three-point shots. ALBA ranked third in three-point shots attempted with 23 per game, but on this occasion Maccabi did a good job in restricting the visiting team’s ability to find shooting space on the perimeter. ALBA did manage to knock down 53.9% of its triples, but that was just 7 conversions on 13 attempts – by far the lowest number of three-point shots attempted by the German team so far the season (the next-lowest was 18 against FC Bayern Munich in October).

Zoosman shows up strong, Blatt struggles

After coming through Maccabi’s youth system and spending six years in the senior team with 79 EuroLeague appearances, Yovel Zoosman made his first return to Menora Mivtachim Arena as a visiting player. And the ALBA Berlin forward produced a strong performance, scoring 10 points on 4-of-6 field goal shooting and also providing 3 assists. Another ALBA player with strong Maccabi connections, Tamir Blatt, did not fare so well. The son of Maccabi’s title-winning coach David Blatt scored 0 points, dished 4 assists and committed 3 turnovers in 13 minutes on a court he knows very well.

Taylor bids fond farewell

Maccabi’s win over ALBA featured a solid show from Kameron Taylor in what proved to be his last game with the club for a while. Taylor contributed 11 points on 4-of-6 two-point shooting and 1-of-3 three-pointers, along with 1 rebound and 2 steals before fouling out after 23 minutes on the floor. Immediately after the game, Maccabi announced that Taylor has been loaned to French club Strasbourg for the rest of the season, with that move coming on the same day Maccabi signed shooting guard Khryi Thomas from Bilbao Basket in Spain.

Scottie Wilbekin 2- Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv - EB21
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
Euroleague.net
Referees: JAVOR, DAMIR; LEZCANO, LEANDRO; RACYS, SAULIUS
Attendance: 9103
By Quarter1234
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv23242020
ALBA Berlin23161920
End of Quarter1234
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv23476787
ALBA Berlin23395878
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 WILBEKIN, SCOTTIE 31:27 18 6/10 2/4     1 1 6 3       1 1 22
2 EVANS, KEENAN 28:32 9 1/5 2/3 1/2   2 2 8 3     1 3 3 15
4 CALOIARO, ANGELO 12:09     0/1     1 1 2         1 1 2
6 WILLIAMS, DERRICK 22:25 16 5/5 2/6   1 3 4           2   14
7 TAYLOR, KAMERON 23:17 11 4/6 1/3     1 1   2     1 5   4
8 REYNOLDS, JALEN 21:23 14 6/11   2/2 3 3 6 1   2 1   3 3 15
9 SORKIN, ROMAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 DIBARTOLOMEO, JOHN 27:10 5 0/1 1/4 2/2 1 1 2 2 1 1     4 1 2
14 BLAYZER, OZ 5:27     0/1                   2   -3
15 COHEN, JAKE 9:33   0/1 0/1   1 1 2 1 1       1 1 2
23 ZIZIC, ANTE 18:37 14 5/6   4/6 1 2 3           1 4 17
99 ZIV, IFTAH DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           3 1 4     2         2
Totals 200:00 87 27/45 8/23 9/12 10 16 26 20 10 5 1 2 23 14 92
        60% 34.8% 75%
Head coach: SFAIROPOULOS, IOANNIS
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
ALBA Berlin
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 LO, MAODO 25:56 18 5/6 2/2 2/2   1 1 2   4     1 3 18
1 DA SILVA, OSCAR 11:22 5 2/2   1/2 1 1 2 1   1     4 2 4
3 SMITH, JALEEN 25:19 4 2/3 0/1     3 3 4   1   1 2 3 8
6 DELOW, MALTE 8:13 1 0/1 0/1 1/2 1 1 2             1 1
9 MATTISSECK, JONAS 7:37                         1   -1
19 OLINDE, LOUIS 17:33 5 0/2 1/1 2/2   3 3   1 1       1 7
21 KOUMADJE, CHRIST 11:46 8 3/5   2/4 5 2 7     2 1   3 4 11
32 THIEMANN, JOHANNES 10:27 6 2/5 0/1 2/2   1 1 1   1       2 5
43 SIKMA, LUKE 24:21 12 3/5 2/2   2 4 6 3   1 1   3 1 17
45 BLATT, TAMIR 12:55     0/1     1 1 4   3       2 3
50 ZOOSMAN, YOVEL 27:39 10 2/3 2/3     1 1 3           2 14
55 LAMMERS, BEN 16:52 9 3/9 0/1 3/3   2 2 1           2 7
Team             2 2     2          
Totals 200:00 78 22/41 7/13 13/17 9 22 31 19 1 16 2 1 14 23 94
        53.7% 53.8% 76.5%
Head coach: GONZALEZ, ISRAEL

Head Coaches

SFAIROPOULOS, IOANNIS
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv

"We just try to play aggressive, play tough and try to dive and play hard for every ball, just trying to keep going with our rhythm and try to protect our home court. We noticed that this is a team that always tries to play aggressive. We tried not to let them be aggressive in our home court. We tried to slow down the game, win the game and stick to our game plan."

"Today we had a very good game and it’s obvious from the 5 turnovers that we controlled the tempo of the game from the beginning to the end. Five players had double digit points, we had 20 assists, 5 turnovers and 10 steals. That was very crucial when ALBA came back, there was a moment we stole the ball two or three times in a row, scored some easy baskets and sealed the game. We need to continue and be more stable with our performances."

GONZALEZ, ISRAEL
ALBA Berlin

"Congratulations to Maccabi, they played a game. We could have come back into the game in the last quarter but Maccabi is a very good team and they played very well in the last minutes."

"They arrived at the end with more energy than us. Realistically, in the situation we’re in, coming after Coronavirus without practicing, I have to be happy with the performance we gave today. We have to try to survive the wave of games that we have now. It was a big game for Yovel Zoosman today because I know he has great feelings with Maccabi. He managed his emotions and played a good game. I’m very happy with his progress and he’s very smart. Tamir Blatt is also very smart, he understands basketball and he’s adapting to our style. He’s working hard to progress his defense and we’re happy to build for the future with him."

Players

WILBEKIN, SCOTTIE
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"We made enough plays. We were almost in danger of giving away the game like we have a few times this season, but we were able to dig down, get some stops and get some buckets. Keenan (Evans) and John (Di Bartolomeo) made big plays, and sealed the deal."
REYNOLDS, JALEN
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"Down the stretch you’ve gotta stay focused. A lot of times emotions get involved, and you’ve just got to stay solid and focused. I want to tip my hat to a really good team we played tonight, it’s not easy coming on the road and trying to get a win. I just tried to follow in the footsteps of big Zizic, he’s a dominant player. Everybody showed their capabilities tonight and we’ve got to continue."
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