Maccabi beat Khimki on the road 89:87

The script seemed identical to the dramatic loss last week against Olympiacos, but this time Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv came away with the 89:87 overtime win over Khimki Moscow. The undisputed leader tonight was Tyler Dorsey, who broke a Yellow & Blue EuroLeague record, drilling eight shots behind the arc, leading the scorers with 26 points, a career-high for the second-year guard. Ante Zizic (16 points), Angelo Caloiaro, Scottie Wilbekin, and Elijah Bryant deserve huge credit for their performance in crunch time.

Giannis Sfairopoulos started with Scottie Wilbekin, Elijah Bryant, Oz Blayzer, Angelo Caloiaro, and Ante Zizic. On the other end, Alexey Shved, Vyacheslav Zaytsev, Janis Timma, Jonas Jerebko, and Devin Booker opened for Khimki.

The host’s started strong, opening a significant margin early as Booker worked inside the pain, and Shved distributed the basketball three times, giving the Russians an early 10 point advantage, 2:12. The Yellow & Blue responded well after the timeout, tightening it defensively as Caloiaro and Wilbekin led an 11:2 stretch, shrinking the lead down to 1, 13:14. Tyler Dorsey notched his second triple to tie it up at 16, but Greg Monroe tallied two from the free-throw line for a 16:18 deficit after 10 minutes.

Chris Jones dished a pass to Othello Hunter, who slammed it hard, and Dorsey added another triple, 21:21. Shved scored five straight points, but Wilbekin and Zizic guided the Yellow & Blue to their first advantage of the night, 27:26. The visitor’s defense stepped up, stopping Khimki from scoring for 3 minutes, adding 10 points on the offensive end for a seven-point edge, 33:26. Dorsey knocked in his 4th three-pointer, but Evgeny Voronov scored 5 points in the final minute to cut the lead down to 3 at halftime, 36:33.

Jordan Mickey and Booker regained the lead back to the Russian side, but not for long as Wilbekin drilled a deep triple, and Bryant scored two from the line, 41:37. Mickey hit back to back threes, and Shved added three more as part of a 9:0 Khimki run, 41:46 midway through the third quarter. Hunter blocked Shved at the rim, which led to a transition three by Dorsey, and in the following possession, Wilbekin lobbed to Hunter, who slammed it down, 47:48. 

It stayed close throughout the quarter as Dorsey and Caloiaro hit back to back free throws, but Shved answered from deep, tying it up at 53. Dorsey and Caloiaro continued their astonishing play as the guard drilled his 6th three of the night, and the forward added two more inside to finish the quarter with a 3 point advantage, 58:55.

Monroe put Khimki on his back at the start of the fourth, scoring nine consecutive points in the paint, leading the hosts to a 6 point margin, 58:64. Zizic and Dorsey answered with seven straight points regaining the advantage, 65:64. Shved flipped the lead, burying another three and converting three free throws, 70:72. Caloiaro hit an absurd one leg triple and added another one in the next possession keeping the deficit at 2.

Shved knocked in another three, but Wilbekin laid two in, 78:81 with 31 seconds on the game clock. Hunter came up clutch defensively with a monster block on Jerebko, giving Maccabi a chance. The visitors set a shot for Dorsey, who drained his eighth triple of the night (new club record) that tied the game at 81, forcing overtime.

Booker scored the first two of the extra period, but both teams had difficulties finding the basket, 81:83. After two scoreless minutes, Bryant drilled back to back threes, opening a two-point edge, 87:85. The Yellow & Blue got another stop with a lot of fighting spirit as Hunter hit one of two from the charity strike, 88:85, 24 seconds left.

Maccabi fouled Shved, who notched both free throws, Wilbekin missed the second shot from the line, giving Khimki a chance to win it with a three. However, the Yellow & Blue defense came clutch taking the ball out of Shved’s hands, not letting Khimki get out a shot in time. Maccabi beats Khimki in dramatic fashion, 89:87.