2020-21Regular SeasonRound 1
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 80
ALBA Berlin 73
October 01, 2020 CET: 20:05
Local time: 21:05 MENORA MIVTACHIM ARENA

Maccabi fends off ALBA for winning start

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv got the new 2020-21 season off to a winning start by holding off visiting ALBA Berlin 80-73 on Thursday night. Maccabi used a 25-2 second-quarter run to rally from a double-digit deficit and take control of the game. Maccabi never relinquished its lead behind Angelo Caloiaro who scored 13 of his team-high 18 points in the second half. Chris Jones had a great EuroLeague debut with 12 points and 7 assists, while Othello Hunter collected 12 points and 6 rebounds in the victory. Marcus Eriksson netted 18 points for ALBA and Simone Fontecchio had 16 points plus 8 rebounds. Peyton Siva added 10 points and 7 assists and Jayson Granger scored 10 points in a losing effort.

The teams traded baskets early with Eriksson sinking a pair of triples for ALBA, while Caloiaro and Wilbekin connected from downtown for the hosts. A three-pointer from Tyler Dorsey made it 15-14, but Fontecchio answered with a triple followed with a low-post left-handed basket. After Ben Lammers added to ALBA's tally, Fontecchio scored 6 more points to lead 19-29 after the first quarter. Niels Giffey increased the margin to 12 points in the opening minute of the second quarter, before Maccabi went on a massive 25-2 charge. First, it was Wilbekin who fueled an 11-0 run with the help of Hunter and Jones. Then, it was a 14-0 run that started with a triple from Jones followed by three-point plays from Dorsey, Sandy Cohen and Caloiaro to open a 43-33 advantage. Eriksson snapped ALBA's drought from long range and Siva's triple made it 49-41 at halftime.

Granger opened the third quarter with back-to-back threes and had 8 points to bring ALBA within 51-49. Ante Zizic and Oz Blayzer got Maccabi going as the teams stepped up their defensive intensity. Johannes Thiemann and Siva kept ALBA close, but Caloiaro and Elijah Bryant combined to score 10 points and open a 67-58 lead going into the fourth quarter. Caloiaro kept working and had another pair of baskets before Bryant stole the ball from Siva for an easy dunk to make it 75-60 with 7 minutes to go. ALBA was not going to go away as Siva and Eriksson answered with back-to-back threes, but Maccabi remained in control. After Bryant and Fontecchio traded triples, ALBA turned to full-court pressure as its last resort, but Maccabi also stood tall on defense, not allowing any easy looks. The visitors got within 78-73 from the free-throw line with 64 seconds to go, but did not score again as Maccabi held on for the victory.

Key spurt

ALBA was in control 19-31 when Maccabi took it up a couple of notches on defense, as stops led to fast breaks and transition baskets. Maccabi first scored 11 unanswered points and then made a 14-0 run to take a 44-33 lead. Its 25-2 run lasted 6 minutes and 25 seconds.

Shining debut

Chris Jones made his EuroLeague debut and impressed with 12 points and 7 assists. All of his points came in the first half and 4 of his assists came in the second half.

Perfect free throws

It does not happen often that two teams do not miss a single free throw. Maccabi was 11 for 11 and ALBA 10 for 10 from the line. Eight different players shot at least 1 free throw in this contest, and no one missed!

Fontecchio's EuroLeague return

ALBA 24-year old forward Simone Fontecchio entered this game with 17 EuroLeague appearances over three seasons from 2016 to 2019, during which he scored a total of 33 points and had a total performance index rating of 13. He never had more than 8 points in a game and the last time he scored a basket was in March 2017. Fontecchio shined for ALBA in the season opener with 16 points and 8 rebounds for a game-high PIR of 27.

Next up

Next week in Round 2, Maccabi travels to face CSKA Moscow, while ALBA will hosts FC Bayern Munich in an all-German clash.

Angelo Caloiaro - Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv - EB20
Thursday, October 1, 2020
Euroleague.net
Referees: RYZHYK, BORYS; BOLTAUZER, MATEJ; ALIAGA, JORDI
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv19301813
ALBA Berlin29121715
End of Quarter1234
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv19496780
ALBA Berlin29415873
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 19:50 9 2/4 1/3 2/2 2 3 5 3 1 1     2 1 12
1 WILBEKIN, SCOTTIE 28:57 8 1/4 2/9     7 7 4   2     2 1 6
3 JONES, CHRIS 26:55 12 3/5 2/5   1 1 2 7   1   1 2 1 13
4 CALOIARO, ANGELO 31:26 18 5/5 1/3 5/5 1 3 4 2 3 2     2 4 25
5 HUNTER, OTHELLO 23:20 12 6/11     3 3 6   2 2 1   3 2 13
6 COHEN, SANDY 12:28 3 1/2   1/1   4 4 1 2     1 3 1 6
11 DORSEY, TYLER 23:13 8 2/4 1/3 1/1   2 2 3       1   3 11
14 BLAYZER, OZ 15:42 4 2/3 0/2     1 1 1 1 1     1 2 4
17 BENDER, DRAGAN 2:44           1 1     1          
18 SAHAR, DORI DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
23 ZIZIC, ANTE 15:25 6 2/3   2/2 1 2 3 2   5     3 1 3
25 ATIAS, YONATAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           2 1 3               3
Totals 200:00 80 24/41 7/25 11/11 10 28 38 23 9 15 1 3 18 16 96
        58.5% 28% 100%
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 15:32   0/3 0/1     2 2 2 1         1 2
3 SIVA, PEYTON 22:46 10 1/3 2/6 2/2   3 3 7 1 3 1   2 1 12
5 GIFFEY, NIELS 21:08 2 1/3 0/2     2 2 2   6     3 1 -6
8 ERIKSSON, MARCUS 21:22 18 3/4 4/8     1 1 1         1 1 15
9 MATTISSECK, JONAS 11:59     0/2     1 1           2   -3
16 NIKIC, KRESIMIR DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 OLINDE, LOUIS 14:16 2 1/4     2 2 4           2 2 3
20 FONTECCHIO, SIMONE 19:56 16 2/3 2/3 6/6 1 7 8   1     1 1 6 27
32 THIEMANN, JOHANNES 19:51 7 2/3 1/3   1 1 2             2 8
33 GRANGER, JAYSON 17:57 10 1/3 2/6 2/2   1 1 1 1       1 2 8
43 SIKMA, LUKE 15:04 2 1/2 0/1   1 2 3 1   4     4   -4
50 LAMMERS, BEN 20:09 6 3/5     3 2 5   2 1 2     2 14
Team           3   3               3
Totals 200:00 73 15/33 11/32 10/10 11 24 35 14 6 14 3 1 16 18 79
        45.5% 34.4% 100%
Head coach: GARCIA RENESES, AITO

Head Coaches

SFAIROPOULOS, IOANNIS
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"Today the game was very difficult, first of all, because we played against a very good team, because we played our first EuroLeague games since March, because we played without our fans, and because we did not play EuroLeague preseason games. I want to congratulate the players for the fighting spirit they showed. The second period was excellent offensively and defensively. We allowed 29 points in the first quarter, then only 4 points in the first 6 or 7 minutes of the second quarter. That was the key for the win, because after that we controlled the game, we were always up. ALBA is a very dangerous team, they have very good shooters. We saw that when we went up by 15 points, and they came back in 2 minutes with outside shooting. This is a team that is always dangerous and will always create problems for teams not ready to play for 40 minutes. We have a lot of work to do to improve our game. It is obvious we can improve, first of all, to have better rhythm and to include more players in the rotation. I would like to take advantage of Zizic more, and we also have Bender who only had two or three practices with us. They have not been playing since March, we know it will take time for them to find their rhythm, but they are two quality players. All other players responded very well, and I am very happy how Chris Jones performed tonight. We knew about his quality, we knew how good of a point guard he was, and tonight he proved he deserved the chance we gave him. He is a EuroLeague player, and he proved it early in his first EuroLeague game."
GARCIA RENESES, AITO
ALBA Berlin
"It was a good game. We had a few very good minutes and Maccabi had a few very good minutes, too. We had bad periods when we lost the ball and we did not take fouls. In the second quarter, we had a lot of minutes that we did not play well. For us it was also important that Luke Sikma did not play a very good game, he was in foul trouble in the beginning. But on the other hand, we had new players, like Ben Lammers who played his best game until now, he practiced only a few days, and also Simone Fontecchio, they both practiced less than the other players. We hope we will play better every time."

Players

CALOIARO, ANGELO
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"It is really far from ideal, especially because we finished [the Israeli League] at the end of July, so we did not have the training camp and all the preseason games and preparation that the other EuroLeague teams had. This was unbelievably gutsy by us. This is our third game of the season and we were able to put it together against a very good ALBA Berlin team. It's pretty impressive; I am proud of the guys."
JONES, CHRIS
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"I really just came out and played basketball. My teammates and coaches made it easy for me to be comfortable out there. I am playing the game that I love and I had a great time, played hard and we got the win. [I can contribute] by just going out there playing hard, having fun with my teammates, being aggressive, playmaking, and hopefully having wins."
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