Hapoel Tel Aviv was left angry and frustrated after losing the first game of the Israeli playoff final 96-75 to Maccabi Tel Aviv at Menora Mivtachim Arena on Tuesday night. The red side will try to level the series on Thursday at 8:50 p.m., but inside the club there is a clear sense that they must look completely different to have a chance.
Hapoel started badly, briefly cut the gap to 28-25 midway through the second quarter, and then watched Maccabi answer with an 11-3 run that opened a double-digit lead. A brief Hapoel push in the third quarter reduced the deficit to nine points for one possession, but it never got closer. Jonathan Motley was the only Hapoel player in double figures with 12 points, while Vasa Micic had a poor game and committed eight turnovers. Coach Dimitris Itoudis said the team lost the battle against Maccabi, and owner Ofer Yannay criticized the players on Twitter, as he had after the series loss to Rishon LeZion.
Captain Bar Timor said the defeat was a “slap” and a lesson, adding that the team needs to respond quickly. “We have to come and fight,” he said, stressing that the main issue was attitude. “We won twice against them in very different games. In the first league game we won, it was a long time ago, it was a game we came to take no matter how. We kept fighting and scratching. We did not do that today.”
Itoudis was also irritated in his press conference when asked why center guard duo Yam Madar and Micic did not attack early. “The game plan was clear, you try to use your players, and today some of the players were at a lower level, I am the same coach who brought the team achievements,” he said. Hapoel was also furious with the officiating, claiming many calls went Maccabi’s way and helped the yellow side build momentum. The club says it is considering filing a police complaint against Jalen Hoard and Oshae Brissett, after the two allegedly confronted a Hapoel fan sitting behind the basket near the red bench; the fan had made provocative gestures toward the injured Jimmy Clark, and Hapoel says it will not let the incident pass quietly.
