Baskonia fails to come back and gives in to Maccabi (89-81)
Euskaraz irakurri: Markagailua irauli ezinda, Makabiren aurka galdu du Baskoniak (89-81)
Baskonia adds its third consecutive defeatsecond in the Euroleague, after a very close match against Maccabi Tel Aviv. The Israeli team has fought hard in this fifteenth day of the regular phase of the Euroleague to win the match, and the Vitorians have not been able to follow the opponent’s final stages despite the outstanding performance of Markus Howard.
On the pitch of the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall, in his exile to Belgrade and behind closed doors, the locals started with a 14-7 run thanks to the push of Josh Nebo and culminated with a triple by Wade Baldwin IV. But the Vitorian team responded soon, being Markus Howard his spearhead.
Two consecutive triples changed the score from 18-12 to 18-18, a tie that continued at the end of the opening quarter (22-22) after James Webb III’s first basket. That spurred Maccabi, who enjoyed up to an 11-point lead (41-30) at 5:35 before halftime.
However, Howard once again put Baskonia behind him with two more triples in a row. He thus infected some teammates, such as Maik Kotsar, Tadas Sedekerskis and Vanja Marinkovic, whose combined work neutralized the distances (47-47) and even served to lead the interval (47-49).
Upon returning from the locker room, Baskonia’s best moments were seen, stretching to 47-53 after a triple by Marinkovic and a free throw by Khalifa Diop, who despite everything was not showing an intimidating version under the rings. Not in vain, the Tel Aviv group was immediately hooked by the work of Baldwin IV.
His successes from a distance were joined by the self-confidence of Roman Sorkin, and a triple by Tamir Blatt turned the situation around (60-59). Howard then responded, also from beyond the arc, but the visitors were missing Chima Moneke to wake up in attack.
Codi Miller-McIntyre did contribute in key moments, who teamed up with Howard to keep his team close to Maccabi after the 30th minute ran out (68-67). However, the gunpowder in the distant shot got wet in the Basque team, which several times was located just one point away (70-69, 72-71, 75-74, 77-76), but without reaching the ‘ surprise’.
Two free throws from Webb III and two more from Nebo, along with another basket from him, broke the game (89-79) in favor of a Maccabi ready to manage the final moments. Moneke came to the fore too late and Baskonia consummated its defeat, now remaining with a balance of 8-7 in the play-in zone.
Data sheet:
89 – Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (22+25+21+21): Baldwin IV (10), Brown (2), Colson (12), Cohen (-), Nebo (17) -starting five-, Cleveland (3), Webb III (17) , Sorkin (14), Rivero (6) and Blatt (8).
81 – Baskonia (22+27+18+14): Miller-McIntyre (10), Marinkovic (16), Díez (-), Sedekerskis (15) and Kotsar (6) -starting five-, Chiozza (-), Rogkavopoulos (4) , Howard (19), Diop (3) and Moneke (8).
Referees: Matej Boltauzer (Slovenia), Milivoje Jovcic (Serbia), Vasiliki Tsaroucha (Greece). They eliminated Kotsar for personal fouls (min. 38). They signaled a technical foul against the locals Baldwin (min. 29) and Brown (min. 38).
Incidents: Match corresponding to the fifteenth day of the Euroleague played in the Aleksandar Nikolic room in Belgrade behind closed doors.
Source: Eitb
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