Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 80-74 as Vasilije Micic starred in the Game 3 win to cut the yellow-and-blue best-of-five finals series lead to 2-1, with Game 4 slated for Tuesday night back at Yad Eliyahu.
Tomer Ginat and Yam Madar paced Hapoel early on while Jaylen Hoard countered for Maccabi, but Micic scored points aplenty and orchestrated the offense to perfection while the Reds’ defense helped Dimitrios Itoudis’s team to a 43-36 advantage at halftime.
Micic continued to control the attack in the second half, while Jimmy Clark countered to cut the gap for Maccabi, but Micic kept hitting his shots to will the Reds to the victory.
Micic scored 29 points and added 10 assists, while Ish Wainright and Tai Odiase each scored 12 points in the win. Clark scored 24 points, Iffe Lundberg put in 15 points, and Hoard scored 12 points in the loss.
Itoudis reflected on Hapoel's win.
"But this is a series, and we now have to respond," Maccabi coach Oded Katash said about the loss
“We came into the game with a lot of motivation from our fans, and we expect them to come into Game 4 very hungry as well. Keeping Maccabi at 74 points shows how much we made in terms of defensive adjustments. We had to make sure to stay composed, and we built up our trust. It was a good win, but we are still down a game in this series. The tank is full, and we want to keep playing basketball. It was really helpful that we had an extra day, and it allowed us to make adjustments.”
Maccabi coach Oded Katash spoke about the loss.
“We wanted to win this game a lot, and I can’t say anything against the effort the guys put in. We didn’t execute well offensively, and we didn’t think this was going to be easy. We knew who we were playing; we are also aware that we have a short rotation, and because of that, we had to make more substitutions as they were tiring. However, despite that, we still led near the end, but this is a series, and we now have to respond. It won’t be easy, but we will need to come up with the energy.”
Micic, the game’s MVP, commented as well.
“We knew we had to give everything, and that’s what we did. It was a good performance by us. I tried to do my best, and I think we had good momentum. We made good decisions, and that was the difference from the previous games in the series. I’m trying to lead the team. Everyone gave everything they had, Tomer Ginat, Yam Madar, everyone contributed, and it’s very important that everyone contributed and made an impact.”
Maccabi’s Oshae Brissett talked about the loss.
“We said right now that it’s not the time to be tired. We get paid to play, and we are professionals. They have one day off like us, and it won’t be an excuse; we will play much better on Tuesday. We had some mental lapses, and there are some things that we can fix. We know we should have closed it out, but we have to make the adjustments. I want to win really bad and I know how much the fans want us to win. But we too – I love to win, and winning the championship is what I’m focused on for next game.”
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