Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv suffered its seventh loss in the EuroLeague this season, once again in a close fight that was decided in the final seconds. The yellows led by as many as 13 points, but Olympiacos had the upper hand in a 94-91 scoreline in Belgrade.
This marked the third straight defeat for Oded Kattash’s men, who could not stop the rivals stars, Evan Fournier and Sasha Vezenkov. Jaylen Hoard was Maccabi’s leading scorer with 20 points, while Levi Randolph (15), Roman Sorkin (13) and Tamir Blatt (12 and 8 assists) also played a big part in the team’s efforts.
After a strong first quarter by the Greeks, who jumped to a double-digit lead, the Maccabees took control in the second quarter with a 12-0 run. Maccabi led by 11 points at the half, but a lackluster third quarter shifted the momentum back to the visiting team. The yellows stayed close and the game came down to the last plays, but Saben Lee missed a triple that would have sent the contest to overtime.
Maccabi will now head back to Israel to face Ramat Gan in the Winner Cup finals on Sunday in Holon. After that, the Israeli champs will travel to Italy to visit Milano, in hopes of finding their first road win of the EuroLeague season.
