The Israeli outfit shot well to earn yet another valuable win
Hapoel thrives on masterclass offense to steamroll Dubai
Отчеты о матчах
3 Минутное чтение
Regular Season
Round 9 of 38
Regular Season
Dubai BasketballDUB
97109
Hapoel IBI Tel AvivHTA
Overview
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EuroLeague debutant Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv set a club scoring record with an impressive 97-109 road win over Dubai Basketball as the visitors produced flawless teamwork and improved to 7-2, while the hosts dropped to 3-6 after a fourth successive loss.
An effervescent third quarter was essential as rampant Hapoel won the period 19-35 to erase a 48-47 halftime deficit and cancel out a mammoth individual performance from Dubai leader Dwayne Bacon, who poured a game-high 36 points.
Bacon and Dubai were undone by a relentless Hapoel unit led by Elijah Bryant, who paced the Israeli side on 25 points and 7 boards, with four other players finishing in double figures. Vasilije Micic netted 19 points, Antonio Blakeney and Jonathan Motley scored 15 apiece and Dan Oturu added 12, as the visiting team shot 11 of 23 from downtown and racked up 40 rebounds.
It was too much for a shorthanded Dubai side missing several key players and Bacon’s valiant solo effort could not stop Hapoel from earning a victory that will further boost the team’s confidence after a bright start in its maiden EuroLeague season.
Bryant, who posted a career high PIR of 36 in his most impressive display for Hapoel since joining the club from Anadolu Efes Istanbul during the off-season, credited his teammates for their selfless work and kept things in perspective as he emphasized it was too early in the season to cork the champagne.
“A testament to my teammates as they were able to find me and getting the win is all that matters,” he said. “It’s a good team win, but it’s a long season and we’ll definitely cherish this one.”
The high-tempo clash was played behind closed doors at Sarajevo’s ZETRA Hall and Hapoel’s head coach Dimitris Itoudis stressed that a lively atmosphere was missing to garnish the action, having also praised his team for bouncing back from the previous round’s tough 62-58 loss at Olympiacos Piraeus.
“We kept Dubai to under 20 points in the third quarter and that’s a great accomplishment given how talented they are, while scoring 35 points also helped as we hit some amazing shots,” the Greek tactician said.
“It was weird playing with no fans as that’s not what basketball requires, but we came here with one purpose and that was to bounce back from the last game. Vasa and Elijah did a great scoring job, we took everything Dubai’s defense gave us but we also got some great stops at the other end,” Itoudis added.
Alongside Bryant, Micic was also instrumental in Hapoel’s victory as he combined sound long-range shooting with dazzling drives to the basket, either scoring on layups or dishing out assists.
“We didn’t have a good first half as they scored from everywhere, but we had a better approach in the second,” the Serbian point guard said. “We knew what to expect from Bacon, he is a great individual player, but we won as a team and that’s the important thing.”
Having made a surprisingly good start in Dubai’s debut EuroLeague season, coach Jurica Golemac now faces trying times after the team was brought crashing down to earth with four straight losses.
“We lost our momentum and made too many mistakes in the third quarter,” the Slovenian tactician said. “They got hot and gained confidence after hitting some open shots, so it was very difficult to come back after they turned the tide.”
