Euroleague working day 32
Valencia Basket fell short of arguments to complicate life for a raging Maccabi Tel Aviv in Belgrade and, although they did not let go, they gave up a comfortable victory in their exile to the Israeli team that greatly complicates their options for the ‘Taronja’ team. qualify for the ‘play-in’, the access crossing to the quarterfinals of this Euroleague. Álex Mumbrú’s team was able to trick until the last quarter despite their lack of forcefulness to protect their rim since the defensive activity of the locals’ arms allowed them to run at times. But beyond resisting, he barely put his rival in trouble despite having a huge opportunity on this day and now he has to wait for the failures of Milan, Efes and Partizan, his rivals for tenth place, the last one that seems to be free for that play off.
Maccabi started scoring without difficulty, against a Valencia defense as cold as the almost empty Belgrade pavilion where the Israeli team plays at home due to the war with Hamas. But Álex Mumbrú’s team reacted quickly, the entry of a solid Semi Ojeleye gave them consistency and with 0-12, the visitors took the lead (10-16, m.7). The presence of Tamir Blatt in the direction of Maccabi and the Cuban Jasiel Rivero in the execution restored rhythm and sensations, but, for now, Valencia found a way not to fall behind, mainly taking advantage of some disconnection in the insistent defense of changes of its rival and stopping their counterattacks, even if it was with fouls.
Seeing that the game had no owner, Odedd Kattash used Lorenzo Brown and Wade Balwin IV again, but it was Bonzie Colson who pulled the locals until they could change the script, and they did so behind. Maccabi’s defensive level increased and Valencia chained several turnovers that allowed their rival to run, allowing them easy baskets and changing the match. Much more comfortable in open play and in the exchange of possessions, the Israeli team had twelve points of advantage and left with ten (48-38, m.20).
After the break, the elegant Baldwin IV and the effective Colson widened the local gap, but some specific actions by Ojeleye, Kassius Robertson and Justin Anderson and a 2-3 zone that changed the offensive routine of their rival prevented the clash from breaking down ( 59-51, m.25). The return of Blatt, Dibartolomeo and Rivero gave Maccabi momentum. Although with less quality than their teammates, the three contributed activity and self-confidence and brought the local advantage to sixteen points to test Valencia’s mental toughness but also its arguments. The two coaches held their positions at the beginning of the last quarter and a couple of errors in shots released by the Israeli second unit gave life to Valencia, who came closer with a couple of triples from Víctor Claver and another action from Robertson, Kattash did not wait Furthermore, he recruited Brown, Baldwin IV and Nebo to recover the tone and they hardly took long to do so.
The local team spent a few minutes without reaching fifteen points, waiting to see if Valencia found a way to scare their rival, but that twist of script did not appear and Maccabi let the clock run without any threat to speed up their options. to be among the top six and avoid the crossing of access to the quarterfinals.
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