Maccabi gave up 17-point lead, but extended win streak to three games
Maccabi shows character in handing Dubai first loss at Coca-Cola Arena
Отчеты о матчах
3 Минутное чтение
Regular Season
Round 16 of 38
Regular Season
Dubai BasketballDUB
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Maccabi Rapyd Tel AvivMTA
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The biggest phrase Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv players and coach Oded Kattash used after its big road win over Dubai Basketball was that the team “showed character”. After failing to finish off games earlier in the season, the Israeli team finally delivered the knockout blow.
O’Shae Brissett threw down a dunk with 3.9 seconds left to give Maccabi a 95-97 win at Dubai Basketball to not only extend its season-best winning streak to three games, but also hand the hosts their first loss at Coca-Cola Arena.
It wasn’t easy, though, as Maccabi saw Dubai race back from 17 points down in the third quarter to tie the game midway through the final period and then get a four-point play by McKinley Wright with 27 seconds left to even things at 95-95. But Iffe Lundberg drove to the basket and as the Dubai defense collapsed on him he fed the ball to Brissett for an easy dunk - his only points of the game. Maccabi’s victory nearly turned into a defeat, but Wright’s long-range attempt was just off at the buzzer.
“It was a very good win for us, especially against a good team,” said Kattash, whose team improved to 6-10. “We knew it wouldn’t be easy to close the game. But we showed character and found a way to get a W. That is something that we were struggling to do earlier in the season, so I am really proud of the players.”
Jaylen Hoard led the way with 21 points, Roman Sorkin had 17 points, Lonnie Walker totaled 14 points before being ejected with 6 minutes to play and Lundberg finished with 13 points and 4 assists.
Sorkin noted some of the same things as his coach, saying: “I think we showed a lot of character after we led and they came back. A few weeks ago, maybe we would have broken down. But we showed character. We kept going.”
Maccabi twice this season had solid leads in the fourth quarter but could not close the deal.
In Round 5, Maccabi was up by 13 points with under 5 minutes left but lost 94-95 to Olympiacos Piraeus. In Round 9, Maccabi had a 9-point lead with 8 minutes left against AS Monaco and then needed to score the final 6 points in regulation to force overtime, where it lost 107-112.
And then Maccabi fought back from 20 points down to actually take the lead in the fourth quarter at Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, but ended up losing 84-75 in Round 10.
“I thought the team played well in spurts. I think we could have done a better job of staying consistent throughout the game. But we’ll take the win. I am really happy. It’s our third win in a row, so that’s good for our team, good for the momentum and the spirit of the team,” added Hoard.
Dubai could not use a career night by Wright, who set personal bests with 26 points, 7 rebounds, 10 assists and an index rating of 42. Justin Anderson added 18 points and Filip Petrusev 15 points - though only 4 of those came in the second half.
It was another nail-biter for Dubai after its last three games were decided by just 1 point - including two wins. Dubai dropped to 7-9, including a 6-1 record at its home arena - though the game was played without fans in the stands.
“Again, the game was decided by one possession. Again we fought back. We didn’t have enough power and energy to break the game,” Dubai coach Jurica Golemac said. “The crucial part was the third quarter when we started without energy, without aggressiveness, without intensity. They got confidence and took an advantage. We fought back and found the rhythm, but not enough to win the game.”
After Dubai led 52-51 through 20 minutes, the home side managed only 14 points in the third frame. Wright nearly delivered another magical victory after his game-winning basket with 0.5 seconds in an 89-88 home win last week.
But it wasn’t meant to be and Maccabi collected its character-building win.
