Miss: Maccabi Tel Aviv lost a 9-point lead, losing 72:20 to Real Madrid | Israel Today

A huge miss for Maccabi Tel Aviv.

The Yellows lost tonight (Thursday) to Real Madrid 72:70 from a basket by Gerson Yavosla 3 seconds to the end, in what reminded them of their loss in the end against CSKA Moscow.

Although Maccabi lost the game only in the closing seconds, it actually lost it before that.

4 minutes to go she led 58:65 with the game in her hands.

The problem for them is that the whole of the last quarter and especially in those minutes she played an uncreative attack, got stuck again and again, and Real Madrid who were not there almost all evening knew how to take advantage of that.

It was the third consecutive loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv and the sixth consecutive victory for Real Madrid.

Maccabi will probably not catch Real on such a bad evening for a long time.

On the other hand she should be given a lot of credit, for a very good defensive evening and for controlling the pace and preventing Mariel from her running game and her famous flow.

Real, a team of almost 10 threes, scored only 2 to 4 minutes to go.

In addition the threatening Walter Tavares was not a factor.

Sapropolus had a tactical control in the game, Lasso had a hard time reacting and the Maccabi coach also knew how to use his bench well, including Oz Blazer who contributed quite a bit in his six minutes.

Dibertolomeo, Photo: Courtesy of Real Madrid

Maccabi's control was clear.

At the end of the third quarter she led by 9 points, 50:59, but the last quarter was low offensively and Sapropolos, who had so far managed the game excellently, lost his tactical advantage with some inappropriate vehicles.

Maccabi scored only 8 points until Derek Williams' three-pointer in the closing seconds.

From the other side, the game was decided by Thomas Hartl.

The French quarterback took control of the game in the closing minutes with two threes, a basket for two and a great assist.

Maccabi had another chance to force extra time with a three by Derek Williams 19 seconds to go, but it did not keep up well during the last, allowing Yavosla to go to the basket and decide the game. 

Maccabi looked much better than its two relegation games against Olympiacos and Alba Berlin in which it absorbed 90 points.

This time she kept excellent, but it did not help in the last minutes.

Next week she will host Kazan at the Yad Eliyahu Hall.

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