The Israeli champions end the four-game losing streak with an impressive team effort. Dorsey led the Yellow & Blue scorers with 17 points, Casspi excelled with 14 points, sending the home crowd happy
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv showed a lot of character and their yellow heart on Thursday night, beating Valencia 84:72 in Menora Mivtachim Arena. After a tight first-half clash, Giannis Sfairopoulos’s squad ramped it up on both ends of the court, scoring 51 second-half points while stopping the second-ranked offense on 72 points compared to their 82 points on average.
With the win, the Israeli champions concluded a four-game losing skid, improving their record to 11:15, keeping the playoff hopes alive. Tyler Dorsey led Maccabi scorers with 17 points and 3 steals, Chris Jones and Omri Casspi (5 rebounds) each scored 14 points, and Ante Zizic closed an efficient night in the paint totaling 13 points and 6 rebounds.
Game Recap:
Chris Jones, Scottie Wilbekin, Omri Casspi, Angelo Caloiaro, and Ante Zizic started for the Yellow & Blue while the Oranges opened with Sam Van Rossom, Joan Sastre, Vanja Marinkovic, Louis Labeyrie, and Bojan Dubljevic.
Casspi was active on the offensive end scoring back-to-back buckets in the paint, but Van Rossom responded with two consecutive layups, and Labeyrie’s 7 points led to the visitors 5 point advantage, 6:11.
Elijah Bryant came off the bench and scored a typical basket under the basket after a Jones assist, and John DiBartolomeo rolled in two after a beautiful drive to the rim while on the other end, Klemen Prepelic knocked down a deep three, closing the first ten minutes at 14:18.
Caloiaro two straight back door moves led to points, and Dragan Bender scored four consecutive points directing a Maccabi 9:2 stretch, giving the hosts a 3 point margin, 23:20. Tyler Dorsey totaled 7 points in two and a half minutes, as four of them came from the free-throw line while Dubljevic answered for the Spanish side with five of his own and Preplic with another triple tied the contest at 28.
Casspi surpassed his season-high, scoring 9 first-half points with back-to-back floaters, but Dubljevic scored 9 of his own, giving Valencia a one-point edge, 33:35 at halftime.
Jones led a quick fastbreak and dished an assist to Zizic inside, who converted a three-point play, and in the next possession, the Croatian big man found Caloiaro open from deep retrieving the lead, 39:35. The Yellow & Blue offensive surge continued as Jones drilled back-to-back triples off assists by Wilbekin and Caliaro, but Van Rossom and Nicola Kalinic responded from deep, keeping the score tight, 49:48.
Both teams exchanged momentums as Valencia scored 5 straight points, but the Yellow & Blue closed the third quarter with an 11:3 run as Othello Hunter grabbed the offensive board and laid in his first two points of the night, beating the buzzer. 62:56 heading into the final 10 minutes.
After a beautiful basket play sharing the ball from hand to hand, Dorsey drilled an open three-pointer who followed with a floater on the verge of the 24-second shot clock keeping a 6 point margin. Bender stopped an alley-oop try on the defensive end and recovered a Dorsey miss to complete an outstanding display, as Zizic grabbed another offensive board and laid in two, giving Maccabi a double-digit margin, 71:61.
Jones hit 4 from the charity strike, and Dorsey added two of his own, completing six straight successful free throws, as Casspi drained a shot from behind the arc and added a floater, concluding the contest. Maccabi ends its four-game losing skid with an 84:72 win over Valencia.
