Vasilije Micic Delivers a Dominant First Half as Hapoel Tel Aviv Takes Control

Vasilije Micic produced his best stretch of the season on Sunday night as Hapoel Tel Aviv faced Maccabi Tel Aviv in Game 2 of the playoff final. With Hapoel down 2-0 in the series and one loss from ending its season, the veteran Serbian guard answered after a miserable outing in Game 1, when he finished the first half with no points, missed all four shots, and committed five turnovers. In that game, he ended with seven points and a season-worst eight turnovers.

This time, Micic flipped the script completely. Hapoel went into halftime leading 43-36, and Micic had already piled up 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, plus three rebounds and seven assists, with no turnovers. The article described him as “dancing on the court” while controlling the game for Hapoel Tel Aviv.

His regular-season averages were 10.7 points and 5.7 assists per game, and he had improved those numbers in the playoffs before Sunday, entering the night with 16.4 points and 4.7 assists across seven games. His season high in the Israeli league in performance index was 24, and he finished the first half on Sunday with a PIR of 17. The report noted that the wider reaction on social media was full of praise for the guard.