Spain, Colombia, Germany and Austria: Watch the goals of the week in world football/Sport1
Maccabi Tel Aviv last night (Wednesday) recorded its sixth consecutive victory in the Euroleague when it defeated Valencia in Belgrade 80:95 and established itself in seventh place in the factory table. Maccabi went up to a balance of 19 wins against 13 losses, and will wait for the results of the weekend to see if they got closer to the sixth place that leads to the playoffs. "Marka" also complimented the Israeli champion, when they wrote that "Valencia succumbed to the attacking talent and physicality of Maccabi Tel Aviv".
The Yellows opened a double-digit gap during the second quarter through big minutes of three of its outstanding players in recent times, Antonios Cleveland, Hasiel Rivero and above all Josh Nibo with 15 points and 9 rebounds, effectively ending the chance of the Spaniards who are fighting for their place in the play-in. Five players scored in double figures for Maccabi, with Wade Baldwin leading the scorers with 17 points.
The group will return to Israel today for one of its busy weeks in the near future. On Saturday night, they will host Hapoel Galil Alion from the bottom in the Kiryat Ata hall, on Monday they will host Maccabi Ramat Gan in the quarter-finals of the State Cup, and on Thursday they will host Barcelona in a game that they must not lose if they want to take sixth place.
Keep up the good form. Yellows celebrate/Official website, Djordje Kostic
The Euroleague table after the 31st round, as of March 28/official website, Euroleague
One of Maccabi's outstanding players in recent times is, as mentioned, Antonios Cleveland. The American guard is averaging 7.5 points in his last seven games with the team after averaging just over 4 points in the first 24 games. Cleveland, who also received opportunities at the start of the season but during which he got lost and decreased in the minutes of the game, became a significant part of the Yellow's run towards the playoffs.
Just last month news was published in Australia, from where Cleveland came to Maccabi Tel Aviv, that Adelaide is interested in joining for the next season and that there are talks between the parties. Maccabi Tel Aviv did not respond to those reports, but as of that time, when Cleveland was a non-central part of the Yellows' rotation, it would seem quite logical that he would not continue even though Maccabi has a contractual option on him for the 2024/25 season as well.
Wow! Sport has learned that Maccabi is currently building on Cleveland, one of the least expensive players on the roster, as part of the professional plans for next season. The fact that the player got into things after a difficult start to the season, and throughout the period remained positive and committed to the system, makes the decision easier for the Yellows, who are supposed to make several changes following the difficult financial situation they are going through due to the war.
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Ketch: "19 Euroleague wins this season is an achievement, certainly considering our situation"
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The local struggles continue. Ketch/GettyImages, Djordje Kostic
As mentioned, Maccabi Tel Aviv has two more games left until the end of the regular season in the Euroleague and now has 19 wins, just like Olympiakos and Fenerbahce, but the Yellows have an extra game since they opened the Euroleague round tonight and the Israeli champions also lost against both following the direct meetings between the teams.
Hence, Kets and his players will keep their fingers crossed for Partizan Belgrade, who will host Olympiakos tomorrow, and on Friday for Alba Berlin, who will be hosted in Turkey. In the next round Maccabi Tel Aviv will host Barcelona and in the final round they will host Milan, in the last two rounds Olympiakos will host Red Star and host Fenerbahce, who in the next round will host Anadolu for a Turkish derby and as mentioned will go to Piraeus in the final round - a direct meeting between two rivals that can definitely serve the the yellow ones.
In the fight for the seventh place in the play-in, Maccabi Tel Aviv is now two wins ahead of Virtus Bologna and is also ahead of the Italians in the internal balance. It is already three wins ahead of the eighth-placed Baskonia.
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