It was a feat no team was able to earn this season, but Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv came agonisingly close to achiving: beating Real Madrid on the road. The Israeli champs gave the EuroLeague champs a fight during 40 minutes, only to lose 101-106 in the Spanish capital to move to a 13-11 record.
It’s been 14 years since Maccabi’s last victory in Madrid, yet this one was tough to swallow. A phenomenal performance by Wade Baldwin (28 points), Bonzie Colson (25) and James Webb (18) kept the yellows within striking distance of Los Blancos until the very final minute. Yet Real, who played without Edy Tavarez and Sergio Llull, found a way to score im[ortant points each time Maccabi built momentum.
“We needed more on defence and maybe a little more concentration”, summarized head coach Oded Kattash, “You can’t give up over 100 points against them and expect to win, expecially here. To win, you need to have a complete game, and we did not have it on defense”.
The yellow squad will now make its way up north to Vitoria, the scene of their next game against Baskonia on Thursday.
