The big man netted a personal-best 19 points to pace the Israeli club
T.J. Leaf lifts Maccabi over embattled Baskonia
Отчеты о матчах
3 Минутное чтение
Regular Season
Round 11 of 38
Regular Season
Maccabi Rapyd Tel AvivMTA
8983
Baskonia Vitoria-GasteizBKN
Overview
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“Today, we had lapses when we didn’t look like a team, but we got the win and that’s all that matters,” said T.J. Leaf, when asked about Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv’s third win of the season on Thursday night. Despite his team-first comments, the forward will be pleased with the way he elevated his team over Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, 89-83.
Coming into this game at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall, Leaf averaged 9 points, 5 rebounds and an assist over 10 games. He had reached double figures in scoring just three times. In his team’s recent loss to Fenerbahce, Leaf logged only 6 points and 5 boards, only to explode offensively two days later.
Leaf added 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals to a 19-point scoring performance. He was perfect from the three-point line, making all 3 of his attempts from beyond the arc. Despite being such an active participant, he committed just a single turnover. Maccabi fans will hope that the performance marks something of a breakout and that the big man can sustain that level of performance for the rest of the campaign.
The teams went back and forth from opening tip, with Maccabi earning the early advantage. Despite the hosts’ consistent scoring, Baskonia refused to go away. Timothe-Luwawu-Cabarrot kept his team in the game for a while, through versatile scoring. Midway through the third quarter, the visitors enjoyed an offensive run that edged them closer, before levelling the game in the final minute of the third.
However, Maccabi found a second wind shortly after the final period began, which Paolo Galbiati’s men couldn’t deal with. Baskonia’s head coach felt his team struggled with their opponent’s style of play.
“Maccabi is one of the best teams on offensive rebounds. They are aggressive, also dirty and they take advantage of that,” Galbiati said. “Unfortunately, we gave them too many second opportunities because our defense was not perfect. On offense, we can do better, but it was not a bad game. We missed wide-open shots, it’s part of the game.”
Though he stood out, Leaf certainly wasn’t alone in earning the win. Jaylen Hoard’s 17-point, 11-board double-double added a hefty punch for the Maccabi team, while Jimmy Clark, Lonnie Walker, Roman Sorkin and Jeff Dowtin also finished in double digits.
Coach Oded Kattash did not understate how big a victory it is and seemed satisfied by his team's performance for the majority of the contest.
“Very important and good win for us,” Kattash stated. “I liked the way we reacted and executed the game-plan. Most of the game, we played the right way, but lost confidence a little bit in the second half. It wasn’t easy for us to close the game, but hopefully we gain confidence. We have to keep improving.”
The result moves both teams to 3-8 for the season, as they attempt to climb from the bottom end of table. Maccabi will hope to carry its newly-found momentum to Basketball City, where it faces Virtus Bologna next Friday. Baskonia will face a tough clash with FC Bayern Munich on the same night.
