Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Hapoel Tel Aviv 102-98 on Thursday night in Game 2 of the Israeli Basketball Premier League finals, taking a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series and moving one victory from the title. After opening the series with a 96-75 win, Maccabi now has the opportunity to clinch the championship in the next game, while Hapoel faces elimination pressure.
Hapoel started brilliantly and raced to a 14-0 lead within three minutes, but Maccabi answered after coach Oded Katash called a timeout. By the end of the first quarter, Maccabi had erased the deficit and tied it at 20-20. The second quarter stayed tight, and Hapoel went into halftime ahead 48-46.
Maccabi took control in the third quarter, outscoring Hapoel 33-25. Roman Sorkin sparked the turnaround, while Jerrick Harding, Tamir Blatt and John Dibartolomeo also made key plays. Yoeli Childs and Vasilije Micic kept Hapoel in contention, and Yam Madar scored 20 points, but Maccabi entered the final period up 79-73 after completing the comeback from a double-digit deficit.
The fourth quarter brought a late Hapoel push. Maccabi led 84-73 before Hapoel trimmed it to 88-83 on a 7-0 run, then to one point at 93-92 after a corner three by Jonathan Blayzer. Hapoel also benefited when Jimmy Clark fouled out, but Maccabi held on with clutch baskets from Harding and others to seal the 102-98 win.