The Jerusalem guard continued his fine form in Greece
Jared Harper turned from scorer to provider at Aris
Article
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 4 of 18
Group B
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When everything indicated that this might not be his night in terms of scoring, Jared Harper came up with a brilliant idea: Why don’t I show the world how good of a playmaker I am too? And that is precisely what the Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem guard did in his team’s 68-78 victory at Aris Midea Thessaloniki on Wednesday night.
Coming into the game at Palais De Sports, Harper was the competition’s top scorer, averaging an eye-catching 23.0 points per game across the first three rounds. He scored 27, 23 and 19 points, respectively, in Jerusalem’s first three games of the 2024-25 BKT EuroCup campaign, recording a league-high PIR of 26.0.
Yet, on Wednesday, Harper faced one of the best EuroCup defenses as Aris had put together a special plan to contain the flamboyant Jerusalem star. Harper finished the first half in Thessaloniki on just 3 points, having gone 1 for 5 from inside the arc and 1 for 4 from the charity stripe. However, he found another way to contribute on offense – by producing 6 assists after 20 minutes.
Aris showed defensive steel in the second quarter and held Jerusalem to just 9 points for a 39-32 cushion at halftime. The hosts even took a double-digit lead (45-35) midway through the third, but Harper provided his team with an extra gear to turn the game around. His seventh assist of the night led to an Austin Wiley bucket from inside to bring the guests within 49-45 with 2 minutes remaining in the third. The 27-year-old guard went on to net 8 points and produce as many as 8 assists in the last quarter, creating the majority of Jerusalem’s 30 fourth-quarter points.
Twenty-six, in fact. Yes, those 26 points he helped contribute played a key role in him finishing with a 14-point, 15-assist double-double. After the contest, Harper didn’t forget to hail his teammates for the work they put in throughout.
“It was a whole team effort,” Harper told EuroLeague TV. “Coming in a tough environment like this and being able to win, it takes being special. We started up good, but we let them get back in the game. They got a lead, [but] we stayed with it, we fought through and [got] a great team win.”
Having grabbed its third straight win, Jerusalem are set to host a U-BT Cluj-Napoca side that comes from a 67-103 thrashing of Veolia Towers Hamburg. Yet, boasting a player who can pull off such scoring and playmaking displays in Harper, the Israeli side have nothing to fear this season.