"Couldn't find the energy to make runs"

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv suffered a disappointing 64:76 road loss to Crvena Zvezda Belgrade on Thursday night, dropping their season record to 13:18. The Yellow & Blue looked great in the first 15 minutes gaining a double-digit advantage, but by halftime, Dejan Radonjic's squad erased an 11 point deficit. The hosts had control in the second half, opened a double-digit lead, and never looked back towards the victory.

"For the majority of the first half, we moved the ball well, played good defense, and were concentrated, but as the game continued with the high physicality of play, we didn't have the power", Analyzed head coach Giannis Sfairopoulos. "In the third quarter Red Star ramped up the aggressiveness, and at that moment, we didn't execute well offensively, as they were able to use the momentum to score easy points. We tried to come back, it could have gone a little better, but obviously, the percentages weren't high because of our fatigue. We want to fight in the final three games, getting the best possible results".



Maccabi's top scorer, Tyler Dorsey, who scored 11 of his 14 points in the final 10 minutes, said: "We couldn't find our offensive rhythm tonight. We were up by 11, but we let them back in the game, and then they hit shots and kept pressing. They dominated the boards and deserved the win".

"We came out flat tonight, couldn't find the energy to make runs and fastbreak points, and it hurt us", Added Elijah Bryant about what was missing tonight. "They hit us in the mouth in the second quarter, and we never responded after that. Credit to them. We need to continue".

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