"We can't relax, tonight's game doesn't give us any point advantage for Wednesday"

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv made one more step towards securing their fourth consecutive Israeli Winner League championship, surpassing past Hapoel Gilboa/Galil 83:74 on Monday evening in Game 1 in the best of 3 series. In front of a sold-out crowd in Menora Mivtachim Arena, Giannis Sfairopoulos's squad were the more focused and aggressive from the tip-off, holding a comfortable margin for most minutes of the contests.

Scottie Wilbekin led the Yellow & Blue with 24 points, and Angelo Caloiaro contributed 16 points (12 of them coming from behind the arc). Ante Zizic was active in the paint, adding 11 points and 9 rebounds, John DiBartolomeo drilled three triples for 9 points as Omri Casspi ( 7 rebounds) and Chris Jones scored 8 points each. 

On Wednesday, Maccabi will head out to Gan Ner for Game 2 of the Israeli Winner League Finals series with a chance to close out the season with the clubs' 55th championship title. However, in case of a loss, the teams will return to Menora Mivtachim Arena 24 hours later for a decisive game 3. 



"It all started from our good defense, allowing only 15 points in the first period, not letting Gilboa/Galil play their brand of basketball", Analysed head coach Giannis Sfairopoulos what led to the victory. "Offensively, we were stable, moving the ball well, reading what they gave us, and finding the best option. With our experience, we showed the right mentality playing very focused, following the game plan, which led to a comfortable margin".

What the Greek coach learned towards Game 2: "We knew Gilboa/Galil is a good team, they never gave up showing their quality tonight. We can't relax, tonight's game doesn't give us any point advantage for Wednesday". 

"It's been a long year, I'm happy we are in the finals, and this is what we've been working for all year", Said the MVP of the evening Scottie Wilbekin, who finished the contest with 24 points. "I think we did a pretty good job executing our game plan playing well as a team, mainly focusing on our defense, limiting their transition and offensive rebounds. Game 2 is going to be tough, they are going to play better at home, so we got to stay focused and stick to our game plan as we did tonight".

Chris Jones spoke about the long rest not being a negative factor: "When you start the game as we did, it helped us get it going. We swept our last series, so we expected a break but not as long as it was. We worked, got better during those off days, and it showed today. We know it's going to be tough on the road, but if we can receive the same outcome as we did the last few times, I'll take it".

"It's the finals, so for sure, they are super motivated. We were in control from the first second. When they hit 2-3 three's, they came back, but we did a really nice job keeping the lead and increasing it back", Summarised Ante Zizic. "We need to come into Game 2 the same way we did tonight, focused 100% from the beginning, playing harder than them".