Maccabi blows out Virtus, 111-80

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv moved one step closer towards booking its place in the playoffs on Tuesday evening, as it beat Virtus Segafredo Bologna 111-80 at Menora Mivtachim Arena. The Maccabi fans were treated to an offensive spectacle by head coach Oded Kattash's team, as it recorded a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague record of 38 assists in the win. This victory improved Maccabi to 18-13 – and 13-3 at home – while Virtus dropped to 13-18 and saw its faint playoff hopes all but ended.
Darrun Hilliard paced Maccabi with 16 points, while six of his teammates also got into double figures: Lorenzo Brown and Wade Baldwin had 14 points apiece, Roman Sorkin scored 13, Josh Nebo contributed 12, Bonzie Colson added 11 and Jarell Martin finished with 10. Brown (8) and Baldwin (7) also combined for 15 of Maccabi's 38 assists, with Hilliard and Jake Cohen dishing 5 each, too. For Virtus, Semi Ojeleye led the way with 16 points, followed by Awudu Abass with 13.
Game Videos
Maccabi came into this game on the back of four successive wins whereas Virtus had lost four of its last five contests, and that difference in confidence showed in the early going. The hosts came out hot and made their intentions clear, opening a quick 8-0 lead after a backdoor cut by Brown and back-to-back threes by Colson. It quickly became one-way traffic, as Maccabi made it 15-4 on the back of some excellent ball movement. Virtus tried fighting back, with Ojeleye and Daniel Hackett striking from downtown to cut the gap to 7 points, 17-10, but another surge by Maccabi saw it close the quarter up by 15, 28-13.
The second quarter began with a tough, off-balanced layup by Nico Mannion, but Virtus then immediately gave up a two-pointer at the other end. Unless the visitors could get a series of stops, it was going to be a long night – and so it proved. Marco Belinelli hit a trademark three-pointer to pull Virtus within 10, 34-24, but he gave up a four-point play to Hilliard moments later. It was a case of one step forward, two steps back for Virtus. The score read 38-29 with 6:29 remaining, but a 21-2 run for the hosts over the next five minutes made it 59-31 and all but ended the game as a contest. At halftime, Maccabi led 62-33 after beating its highest-ever number of points in a half, having previously scored 61 against AIK Athens in 2004 and Besiktas Istanbul in 2013.
After the break, it was a similar story, with Maccabi extending its lead out to a larger extent. The hosts went 31 points up, 69-38, inside the first few minutes, then they made it a 37-point ball game, 77-40, with 6:20 left. The fans inside Menora Mivtachim Arena were loving what they were seeing, as Maccabi continued to thrive in a playoff-esque atmosphere. Virtus showed some signs of life, cutting the gap to 32 points, 79-47, but at the end of the third quarter, Maccabi had a 34-point advantage, 87-53.
Such was Maccabi's lead in the fourth quarter that Coach Kattash decided to go to his bench, giving extended playing time to the likes of Hilliard, Iftah Ziv, Suleiman Braimoh and Rafi Menco. Virtus forward Awudu Abass scored 11 points in a hurry to provide a boost for the visitors, 96-67, but Menco's triple shortly after pushed Maccabi above the 100-point barrier for the first time this season. Maccabi continued to move the ball and recorded its 38th assist in the final minute, as it coasted to 111-80 victory.