Hapoel Tel Aviv stayed alive in the Israeli championship final on Sunday with a 74-80 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv, cutting the series deficit to 2-1 after trailing 2-0. Game 4 is set for tonight at 20:50, with Hapoel at home and aiming to force a decisive Game 5, while Maccabi hopes to finish the series and claim the championship trophy.
For Maccabi, the main challenge is coping with the pressure after appearing to crack in the previous game. The team will have 10,000 yellow-clad fans behind it, but coach Oded Katash’s side knows there is no margin for error if it fails to close out the series tonight. The article says the team must quiet the noise around it and avoid the tension that has already shown on the court.
A key factor for Maccabi is Roman Sorkin, who has to bounce back after a blank performance in Game 3. The Israeli center is described as one of the team’s anchors and a potential difference-maker. He scored 14 points and 4 rebounds in 28 minutes in Game 1, then 21 points and 5 rebounds in Game 2, but finished Game 3 with zero points in 25 minutes and looked unfocused defensively.
Hapoel’s path to another win runs through its backcourt and defense. The team has leaned on Vasilije Micic and Yam Madar, but it needs them to click together, not separately. Madar scored 34 points in Game 2, yet Hapoel still lost when Micic was off, while Micic’s 29 points and 10 assists in the last game helped spark the victory. Defensively, Hapoel held Maccabi to 74 points in Game 3 after conceding 96 and 102 in the first two losses. Dimitris Itoudis also boosted that side by replacing Chris Jones with Keandre Cook, and Hapoel will need that same defensive level, or better, to keep the series alive.
