The Maccabi guard put together his best game of the season so far to lift his team to victory.
Wade Baldwin’s crucial plays at both ends clinched Maccabi win at ASVEL
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Regular Season
Round 12 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Wade Baldwin produced a strong outing on Wednesday night and made some tough plays down the stretch to allow Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv to secure a 91-94 victory at LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne in Round 12. Maccabi raced to a 22-33, start but ASVEL responded with a 15-0 run to take a narrow 46-45 lead into the second half. That was followed by a back-and-forth affair after the break. It involved a total of 23 lead changes, with Baldwin stepping up when the visitors needed him the most.
The Maccabi guard missed the first five games this season through injury, but he has managed to grow into the campaign. His season-high 21 points against ASVEL might not be an extraordinary figure, but the fact that 7 of them came in the last 4:30 of the closing quarter speaks for itself.
His most crucial play on offense came with 0:11 left on the clock. Lorenzo Brown found Baldwin on the perimeter and the Maccabi star drove to the basket, past Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, and sank a tough layup to make it a two-possession game, 88-92.
“I’m really happy for this team,” Baldwin said after the game. “We’re fighting through all the battles that we have to go through as a club. And we continue to show fight and we’re stringing some wins. When we get in our mode and our rhythm of playing fast, being tough, being aggressive, good things happen for us. In the first half, we allowed ASVEL to push us around a little bit. They have size in the ‘4’ and ‘5’ positions, but we adjusted and ended up winning the game.”
Baldwin didn’t just play a key role on offense. He also contributed on defense, especially in the last possession of the game. The hosts had the opportunity to send the game to overtime, as they needed to make a triple when Nando De Colo received the ball with three seconds to go. At that point, De Colo was on 22 points off the bench, having sunk 3 triples to overtake Jaycee Carroll for 12th place all-time with 438 career three-pointers made. The ASVEL star pulled up from behind the arc, but he was blocked by Baldwin, who sealed the victory for Maccabi.
“It was a helluva game,” Baldwin added. “ASVEL has a tough team with a new coach and they are trying to build. When you step on the arena with [De Colo], in my opinion, the best European guard ever played, it’s a battle. And I’m really honored I was able to make that stop.”
After grabbing its second consecutive victory, Maccabi will look to build on its momentum by ending the double-round week in style with a win away at Virtus Segafredo Bologna on Friday.