The Battles of the Basque Country has suffered this Friday its third consecutive defeat in the regular phase of the Euroleague after falling at the hands of Maccabi Tel Aviv (69-87) in a match, played at the Buesa Arena, which was always dominated by the Israelis except for some sections in the second quarter.
The set of Dusko Ivanovic steers away from playoff spots after conceding an unceremonious loss to one of the fittest teams in all of Europe. Maccabi took the roller out from the beginning and did not slacken throughout the match.
The 9-17 of the first act was already a signal for the Vitorians, who were able to recover at the beginning against the effectiveness of their opponents. An excellent percentage (8/9) in shots of two left the home team with no options. To top off the Baskonia, Derrick Williams began a real exhibition that ended with 21 points and a PIR of 26.
The reaction came before the break with a spectacular partial by the Basques (18-5) led by Costello, but it was all a mirage.
From 27-23, the maximum of the locals, it went to 27-35 and Maccabi did not stop at the restart.
The defeat was inevitable despite the final arreón of Simone Fontecchio and Landry Nnoko, authors of 12 and 10 points, respectively, but falling far behind any comeback option. It is the third defeat in a row for a Baskonia that has a 3-5 balance and falls to fifteenth position. Maccabi is fourth with a 6-2.
Datasheet:
69 – Battles of the Basque Country (14 + 21 + 19 + 15): Granger (4), Giedraitis (9), Fontecchio (13), Sedekerskis (-) and Nnoko (10) -starting five-, Costello (13), Marinkovic (-), Baldwin (15), Enoch (5) and Kurucs (-).
87 – Maccabi Tel Aviv (21+23+19+24): Evans (14), Wilbekin (-), Caloiaro (5), Williams (21), Zizic (16) -cinco inicial-, Taylor (2), Reynolds (16), DiBartolomeo (-), Nunnally (12), Cohen (-) y Ziv (-).
Referees: Sasa Pukl (Slovenia), Olegs Latizevs (Latvia) and Gytis Vilius (Lithuania). They eliminated Costello for personal fouls (min. 37).
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