Great Show at Nokia: Maccabi Defeats Zalgiris 86 – 70

By Amy Samin
 
In their first home Euroleague game of the 2020 – 2011 season, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv soundly defeated the Lithuanian team Zalgiris, 86 – 70.
Sofoklis Schortsanitis, who scored 24 points (which made him top scorer in the Euroleague for Week 2), and Richard Hendrix who nearly came away with a double-double, were all but unstoppable.
Doron Perkins, who did a superb job running the offense, finished with 8 assists (number one in the Euroleague for Week 2) and no less than 7 steals.

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</EMBED>Pre-game activities included a nice tribute to beloved team captain Derrick Sharp, who is currently playing his fifteenth straight season with Maccabi.
Sharp, who has scored 4,400 points since joining Maccabi and served in so many ways as a model of what a basketball player (and person) should be, was greeted by huge signs emblazoned with the words: Be Like Derrick.
 
Maccabi head coach David Blatt’s starting five for the game were Jeremy Pargo, Lior Eliyahu, Guy Pnini, Doron Perkins and Sofo Schortsanitis.
The lineup for the Lithuanians included Martynas Pocius, Paulius Jankunas, Arturas Milaknis, Travis Watson and DeJuan Collins.
Maccabi came out strong on both ends of the court, disrupting the visitor’s offense and forcing turnovers while enjoying points in the paint from Sofo (who kicked things off with one of his own brand of three pointers, a bucket and one from the stripe)
and Eliyahu.
A drive into the paint by Pnini put Maccabi up 11 – 2 near the halfway mark in the period.
After more points from Sofo and Eliyahu, Zalgiris managed to close the gap, coming within five with about 3 minutes left, 15 – 10.
Richard Hendrix (in his first Euroleague game at Nokia Arena) came into the game for the big man and contributed both points and tough defense, while Perkins racked up two steals.
A perfect catch and shoot from the top of the arc by (who else?) David Blu was followed by another Blu three-pointer from even farther away (off an assist from Pargo), and the quarter ended with Maccabi leading 25 – 11.
 
A nice two under the basket by Hendrix early in the second quarter (off an assist from Chuck Eidson) was followed by a Pargo stop-and-drop, making it 30 – 18.
Maccabi’s defense continued to harass Zalgiris, and with more points from Sofo and another steal by Perkins, Maccabi led 35 – 22 at the halfway mark in the period.
The next five minutes were more of the same, with Maccabi keeping a choke hold on the Lithuanian offense (including more steals by Perkins and by Eidson) and dunks from Sofo and Eidson as well as points by Hendrix and Pnini to finish out the half.
The teams retired to the locker rooms with Maccabi up by twenty, 47 – 27.

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Maccabi got off to a slow start in the second half, scoring only two points in the first five minutes of the third quarter while Zalgiris began to find the basket, 49 – 36.
Perk drilled a three pointer off an assist from Pargo, but with three players in foul trouble and after a 7 – 0 run by the Lithuanians, Maccabi called a time out with the score 52 – 43.
With two minutes left in the period, Perk scored a brilliant reverse layup, which he followed with a steal plus layup to put Maccabi’s lead back up to ten, 56 – 46.
Maccabi’s co-captain Tal Burstein and Eidson both scored, and then Elishay Kadir came into his first home Euroleague game for Maccabi and played strong on defense.
Hendrix dropped in a putback and Pnini scored a huge three pointer from the left wing at the buzzer to put Maccabi up 65 – 51.
 
The first minutes of the fourth quarter belonged to Burstein and Hendrix, with the latter fighting hard on defense and scoring four quick points, including a spin and shoot off the glass from an assist by Perkins, 71 – 55.
Maccabi’s defense forced another shot clock violation on the visitors, then Eidson sent a perfect alley oop to Eliyahu and followed it with points of his own, making it 75 – 60 with just over four minutes left in the game.
Sofo slammed in two straight dunks and a putback (and one), then left the game to a standing ovation, with a minute and a half remaining and the score 82 – 66.
Eliyahu scored two straight baskets from assists by Perk and Burstein, and the game ended in a victory for Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv over Zalgiris, 86 – 70.
 
Box Scores
Maccabi: Schortsanitis 24 points; Hendrix 14 points, 9 rebounds; Eliyahu 12 points; Eidson and Blu 8 points each; Perkins 7 points, 8 assists and 7 steals; Pnini 6 points; Burstein 4 points; Pargo 3 points.
 
Zalgiris: Jankunas 14 points; Watson and Kalnietis 9 points each; Pocius and Delininkaitis 6 points each; Salenga and Collins 5 points each; Begic and Klimavicius 4 points each; Milaknis 3 points; Capin 2 points.
 
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המועדון

המועדון

Great Show at Nokia: Maccabi Defeats Zalgiris 86 – 70

Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv dominated the game against Zalgiris of Kaunas, coming away with an 86 – 70 win in Week 2 of the Euroleague regular season. Schortsanitis and Hendrix were outstanding.

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