


Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv sent a message that echoed all around the competition by downing Anadolu Efes Istanbul 64-86 at Sinan Erdem Sports Hall in Round 28 on Friday. Maccabi improved to 15-13 in the standings, completing a perfect double-round week. Meanwhile, Efes dropped to 13-14 and that much further from the top eight due to having lost twice this season to the visitors. Maccabi buried 10 of its first 13 three-pointers to build a 20-45 lead and never let Efes back in the game.
Wade Baldwin led the winners with 23 points. Jarell Martin added 13, Lorenzo Brown 11, Josh Nebo and Darrun Hilliard 10 each. Nebo added 11 rebounds for a double-double. Will Clyburn led Efes with 12 points, all in the second half. Elijah Bryant added 11 and Bryant Dunston had 10 for Efes.
Maccabi found an early go-to guy in Baldwin, who dunked twice, fed Bonzie Colson for a fastbreak slam and added a couple of three-pointers for a 10-17 lead. John DiBartolomeo struck twice from downtown while Martin and Hilliard also hit one apiece from beyond the arc to boost the guests' margin to double digits, 20-33, after 10 minutes. Hilliard buried a three-pointer and Martin followed a power layup with back-to-back triples to break the game open, 20-45. Amath M'Baye and Ante Zizic tried to change things with consecutive three-point plays but Baldwin kept Maccabi way ahead, 33-54, at halftime.
Dunston and Bryant each scored around the basket and Clyburn found his first points, but Efes only managed to trade baskets for a while. Nebo took over with a huge alley-oop slam, Jake Cohen joined the three-point shootout, and Baldwin scored again for a 39-62 Maccabi margine. Baldwin remained unstoppable and Nebo's put-back dunk gave Maccabi a 48-68 lead after 30 minutes. Clyburn took over early in the final quarter and Larkin struck from downtown to give Efes hope at 60-72 with under under 6 minutes left. But Brown buried back-to-back three-pointers as Maccabi restored a 62-80 margin and never looked back.