"The guys locked in playing great defense down the stretch"

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv showed their fighting spirit on Thursday night, coming back from a double-digit margin and a 6 point deficit late in the fourth quarter to a heroic 88:81 finish on the road against Zalgiris Kaunas. The Yellow & Blue excelled in crunch time, stopping the Greens on two points for over 3:30 and scoreless in the last minute and a half, taking advantage of 9 unanswered points to close out the contest.

Like the past couple of domestic league games, the Israeli champions enjoyed an outstanding balance on the offensive end. Five players secured double digits in the points column as Dragan Bender led the way with 16 points. Chris Jones had an outstanding performance scoring 13 points while adding 6 assists, 4 steals, and 3 rebounds.



"At the end, we played good defense and had clear ideas how to attack offensively", Explained head coach Giannis Sfairopoulos what led to the final run, which gave his team the win. "After the timeout, we locked in, not letting them score baskets, while on the other end, we had good scoring options finding solutions to their aggressive defense. We won 3 of the 4 quarters, and with our good defense, we scored 50 points in the second half. We need to fight game by game until the end". 

"From the beginning of the season, I don't count only on the first or second unit, I rely on all of them together", Added Sfairopoulos, about the team as a whole. "When the player comes in, his participation is really important as we are a team and want to play together. They know that their roles are crucial for the success of the team". 



Dragan Bender, who finished as the top scorer, said after the game: "This win is really important for us, we want to show we are a good fighting team on both ends of the floor. We showed that tonight playing better and better as the game proceeded. We won the last 3 quarters and kept our concentration until the end, making key plays to secure the W".

"It started rough, but the guys locked in playing great defense down the stretch", Stated Chris Jones. "Defense led us to easy points in transition, and it made things kind of easy for us offensively. The guys executed, paid attention to details, and an overall good fight. Regardless of our spot in the standings, we will continue to fight in these last couple of games, showing people we aren't just going to lay down and quit".

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