Maccabi Tel Aviv has a new home and inaugurated it with the victory it wanted most. At the Spyros Kyprianou in Limassol, where it will play as the home team due to the situation in Israel, Oded Kattash's team defeated Dimitris Itoudis' Hapoel in the third Tel Aviv derby in EuroLeague history. It's their second win over their rival in three days, following the comeback in the League Cup final, and helps them snap a four-game losing streak in the competition.
Maccabi Dominates the First Half
Maccabi came out with excellent accuracy near the basket, shooting 9 of 12 from two-point range in the first quarter, and went up 23-13 seven minutes in, their largest lead. Hapoel cut it close with a 2-8 run before the end of the quarter (25-21), but the yellow team continued to control and reached halftime 41-33, aided by eight turnovers from their opponent in the first half.
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A Game of Runs
Hapoel returned from halftime with renewed intensity. They tied it at 43 at the 24-minute mark and, with a 17-2 run, went up five (45-50). Maccabi responded with an 11-0 run (56-50), and the fourth quarter began with another change in leadership. A three-pointer from Daniel Theis (66-61) and a basket from Keaton Wallace (71-63) seemed to give the home team breathing room with four minutes left.
A Thrilling Finish
Hapoel didn't give up. A 5-0 run brought them within three (71-68), and although Clark made it 74-68 with 41 seconds left, a three-pointer from Vasilije Micić and two free throws from Amir Coffey following a steal left the score at 74-73 with 24 seconds remaining. Yam Madar didn't miss from the line (78-73) and Maccabi closed out the game. Madar, with 10 points and 7 assists in less than 12 minutes, was key down the stretch. For Hapoel, Micić scored 14 points but shot just 1 of 9 from three, and Tomáš Satoranský returned after missing two games.