Maccabi Tel Aviv wins title in gritty Game 4 finish

Maccabi Tel Aviv captured its 58th championship on Tuesday night, beating Hapoel Tel Aviv 83-79 to clinch the best-of-five final 3-1. The victory completed a season of swings and uncertainty with a second domestic trophy, after the team nearly parted ways with coach Oded Katash in October and spent most of its EuroLeague campaign playing abroad.

Katash called the title “one of the biggest trophies of my career,” while the club said, “The Maccabist spirit won.” Maccabi also pointed out that it won with only eight players available. Center Zach Hankins played through an abdominal injury after realizing only seven teammates were available behind him and he wanted to avoid foul trouble.

Roman Sorkin was the decisive figure. The Israeli big man struggled for much of the game, as he had in the previous contest, but hit a huge three-pointer with 32 seconds left to give Maccabi a lead it kept to the end. “The basket did not end the game,” Sorkin said. “Coach yelled at me to calm down. I had to do it for the team after a bad game and a half.” He added that the win felt especially sweet after years of difficulty and the strain of constant travel outside Israel for EuroLeague games.

Katash said the team arrived exhausted, “with our tongues hanging out,” but won through “heart, soul and sacrifice” rather than pretty basketball. He praised not only the players but also the staff, including fitness and medical personnel, and said a healthy locker-room atmosphere and management effort were essential to surviving the playoffs and protecting home-court advantage. Maccabi finished a low-assist, 83-point game with just 10 assists, while Katash said the poor first-half ball movement reflected Hapoel’s adjustments and team fatigue. The championship also earns Maccabi a 325,000 shekel bonus.