Only ten teams in history have gone from a 1-0 deficit to a 1-2 victory in the playoff series using the best-of-3 method.
Hapoel Gilboa / Galil is the only one that has done so in the last 20 years, in the quarterfinals of the 2019/2020 season at the expense of Hapoel Holon.
Hapoel Jerusalem will go up to the floor tonight at the Toto Hall in Holon, when it will also have to erase the deficit in the series, and also face the strong Purples who have won all four of their games so far in the playoffs this season - three of them in a very convincing way.
Add to that the fanatical fans of Holon, who snatched all the tickets for the game, and the mental pressure - a loss that will end the season for Yotam Halperin and his players earlier than expected.
Although the odds are against it, if there is one team that can get out of this pit it is Hapoel Jerusalem.
Losing a home run in the first game is a familiar thing to her, and she is the only one since 2014 who turned a 1-0 home win into a series of the best of 5.
She even did it twice.
Halperin.
Does he have solutions for tonight ?, Photo: Danny Maron
However, to do so in a series of the best of 3, and in front of a quality and experienced rival like the one who will host it tonight, is a completely different story.
To remind you, even in the quarterfinals, Jerusalem looked bad in the first game and lost at home to Gilboa / Galil, but then the opponent was less quality and also lacked staff.
Beyond that, of course, she had more opportunities to correct (a series of better than 5), unlike this time.
What should worry the people of Jerusalem is the mental crispness that the players showed in the two be-and-not-so games they participated in this year: game 3 in the playoff quarterfinals against Promitei in the Champions League, and in the quarterfinals of the state cup against Hapoel Tel Aviv.
In both cases she lost and finished her way to an early factory.
Hapoel Jerusalem has already won the season in Holon at the end of a dramatic game, and it certainly has the professional tools to do so again and return the series to a decisive third game in the arena on Thursday.
"We were already in a relegation situation this season. Some of our players have played in great positions, and they understand the importance of the game," Halperin said. "Everyone here knows and understands that there is no going back.
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