2020-21Regular SeasonRound 20
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 91
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 82
January 14, 2021 CET: 20:05
Local time: 21:05 MENORA MIVTACHIM ARENA

Maccabi holds off Baskonia

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv held off TS Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 91-82 on Thursday night at Menora Mivtachim Arena. Othello Hunter and Elijah Bryant scored 14 points apiece to pace the Israeli champs, who improved to 9-11 on the season and sent Baskonia to the same record. Maccabi moved ahead of Baskonia in 12th place in the standings because it also beat the club when they met last month in Spain. Bryant and Angelo fueled a 12-2 first-quarter run that gave Maccabi the lead for good and the margin reached double figures early in the fourth quarter. Rokas Giedraitis and Alec Peters rallied Baskonia late, but Scottie Wilbekin and Bryant ensured Maccabi came away with the victory. Caloiaro finished with 12 points and Yovel Zoosman added 12 for the winners. Pierria Henry paced Baskonia with 19 points and 8 assists, Peters netted 18 points on 4-of-6 three-point shooting and Giedraitis scored 12 in defeat.

Baskonia corralled offensive rebounds on its first three possessions, while Maccabi committed 2 early turnovers, as the visitors jumped to a 0-6 lead with Youssoupha Fall scoring 4 of those points. Zoosman got the hosts rolling with a three-pointer and Ante Zizic and Bryant each score twice as Maccabi came back to tie the game at 11-11. John DiBartolomeo buried a three to give his team its first lead, 14-13 and Caloiaro scored on consecutive possessions to complete a 12-2 Maccabi run. Threes by Peters and Luca Vildoza kept Baskonia close, but free throws by Hunter and a layup by Caloiaro made it 26-21 after 10 minutes. Zoran Dragic got going for Baskonia and Henry's free throws trimmed the deficit to 32-30. Omri Casspi helped Maccabi extend its lead before a Dragan bender triple made it 43-34. Henry shined with a three and a steal for a layup to bring Baskonia back. After a layup by Caloiaro, Peters's free throws ended the half with the scoreboard showing 47-43.

Scoreless in the first half, Wilbekin got his first points with a floater to start the third quarter, but a three by Vildoza had Baskonia within 3. The pace remained high as the teams traded shots. Achille Polonara had a nice block and a three-pointer to make it 60-58. Bender answered with a triple and a block to keep Maccabi ahead. Caloiaro ended the third quarter with a three for a 68-60 advantage. Hunter's alley-oop slam gave Maccabi its first double-digit lead. Baskonia fought back with a pair of threes by Peters and another from Giedraitis to get to 75-71 with 6 minutes remaining. A three by Zoosman gave Maccabi some breathing room, but Giedraitis answered in suit. A deep three by Wilbekin made it 83-76 with a little more than 2 minutes to play. Free throws and a dunk by Bryant helped Maccabi hold on late despite the best efforts of Henry.

Pivotal player

Elijah Bryant scored 14 points, including free throws and a dunk in the penultimate minutes, to help Maccabi stave off Baskonia for the win. The Maccabi guard finished with 14 points on 5-of-5 two-point shooting. He also dished 4 assists for a performance index rating of 20. It marked the fifth time this season – and second game in a row – in which Bryant had a PIR in the 20s.

Telling numbers

In a game that was close until the very end, Baskonia's 15 turnovers – 5 more than Maccabi – proved costly. Maccabi was also stronger shooting, making 25 of 41 two-point shots (61.0%) compared to 18 for 33 (54.5%) by Baskonia.

What's next?

Maccabi will take on Real Madrid in its next game on Thursday, January 21, in Round 21. Baskonia hosts ALBA Berlin the following day.

Elijah Bryant - Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv - EB20
Thursday, January 14, 2021
Euroleague.net
Referees: PATERNICO, CARMELO; NIKOLIC, UROS; AMBROSOV, MYKOLA
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv26212123
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz21221722
End of Quarter1234
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv26476891
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz21436082
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 22:35 14 5/5 0/2 4/4 1 1 2 4 1 1     1 3 20
1 WILBEKIN, SCOTTIE 23:30 9 2/5 1/6 2/2   4 4 4   2   1   3 9
3 JONES, CHRIS 12:37 6 2/4 0/1 2/2   1 1 2           1 7
4 CALOIARO, ANGELO 26:37 12 4/5 1/2 1/2 3 1 4 2 2       1 3 19
5 HUNTER, OTHELLO 19:25 14 6/8   2/2 2 3 5 2 1       2 2 20
7 CASSPI, OMRI 9:00 2 0/2 0/1 2/2 1 1 2 1   1 1     2 4
11 DORSEY, TYLER 7:57 1 0/2 0/1 1/2   2 2     1     2 2 -2
12 DIBARTOLOMEO, JOHN 14:33 6   2/4     1 1 1         2 2 6
14 BLAYZER, OZ 6:45 2 1/1   0/1   1 1           2 1 1
17 BENDER, DRAGAN 15:19 8 1/3 2/3     2 2     2 1 1 2   3
23 ZIZIC, ANTE 17:14 6 3/5       1 1 1   2   1 2   1
50 ZOOSMAN, YOVEL 24:28 11 1/1 3/4     3 3 3 1 1     3 3 16
Team           3 1 4               4
Totals 200:00 91 25/41 9/24 14/17 10 22 32 20 5 10 2 3 17 22 108
        61% 37.5% 82.4%
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
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 27:34 8 1/3 2/5   1 1 2 1 1 2     2 3 6
5 JEKIRI, TONYE 13:59 2 1/2       5 5 1   1 1   2   5
7 HENRY, PIERRIA 31:22 19 6/8 1/4 4/4   3 3 8 2 3     4 4 24
8 SEDEKERSKIS, TADAS 14:14 2   0/2 2/2 1   1 1   1     1 1 1
12 DIOP, ILIMANE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 FALL, YOUSSOUPHA 20:34 8 3/5   2/2 2 3 5 4 3 4 1   4 1 12
25 PETERS, ALEC 29:21 18 2/2 4/6 2/2 2 3 5 1   1     2 2 21
30 DRAGIC, ZORAN 16:37 8 3/6 0/1 2/2 3   3 3   1   1 3 3 8
31 GIEDRAITIS, ROKAS 22:38 12 1/4 3/6 1/2         2 1   1 1 3 7
33 POLONARA, ACHILLE 23:41 5 1/3 1/4     5 5       1   3   3
47 KURUCS, ARTURS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team             1 1     1          
Totals 200:00 82 18/33 11/28 13/14 9 21 30 19 8 15 3 2 22 17 87
        54.5% 39.3% 92.9%
Head coach: IVANOVIC, DUSKO

Head Coaches

SFAIROPOULOS, IOANNIS
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"I think today we showed our character. It was not easy to come today after a bad loss, to play after two days and to perform as we performed tonight. For me what was most important is that we showed great effort on one side and from the other side, that we played excellent all together. I think that tonight, whoever came to play, no matter how much time he played, gave maximum for the team and this is very positive and this is what I like about this game. It was not an easy game. We knew that Baskonia is a team that is second in transition points in the league. You saw that they hurt us a lot with transition threes. But I think that in general, in the third period they scored just 17 points; that was our best defensive period. We slowly started to get a bigger lead. They came back, but in the end, I think we saw our character and we won the game."
IVANOVIC, DUSKO
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
"Maccabi, I think, on this night played with more decisiveness and more clear ideas in the most important moments of the game. An offensive foul and a missed three-pointer is what decided the game."

Players

ZOOSMAN, YOVEL
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"It was a high-scoring game. You could see the talent on the court. I don't think our defense wasn’t good, but we could have been better on defense. They are a very talented team and can score in many ways. In the end, the win is what was important and we won. We won mainly because of our defense. I don't think we'll score 91 points in every game. We allowed more points than we wanted to. But in money time, when the game was close, we made the right plays and that's what made the difference."
HUNTER, OTHELLO
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"Tonight I'm just happy for everybody. We played hard. I'm just trying to take it one game at a time from this point on. That's what we're trying to do."
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