Hapoel Tel Aviv Dominates Besiktas in EuroLeague, Eyes Playoff Push

Hapoel Tel Aviv secured a decisive 82-100 victory over Besiktas in the EuroLeague on Wednesday, improving their record to 3-2. The team is now preparing for a challenging road game against Panathinaikos in Greece on Friday, with the goal of achieving two wins in this double-game week to signal their playoff aspirations.

Despite the convincing win, the team's assist-to-turnover ratio was less impressive, with 12 assists and 11 turnovers, compared to Besiktas' 19 assists and 12 turnovers. However, unlike their previous loss to Valencia where Antonio Blakeney was the sole standout, this game saw multiple key players scoring in double figures. Vasilije Micić and Elijah Bryant led the scoring with 16 points each, followed by Blakeney, Amir Coffey in his debut, and Zach LeDay, who all added 15 points. LeDay was particularly impactful in the third quarter, contributing ten points to help Hapoel build a significant 16-32 run and establish a lead that reached 20 points.

Blakeney commented on the game, stating, "It was tough, they played physical all game. We knew they were an aggressive team, and it was good that we could make our shots, move the ball, and everyone scored tonight. We need to keep running, stick to what we do. Sometimes shots don't fall in the first half and they fall in the second. It's still too early in the season, we are learning each other and finding our rhythm." Looking ahead to the game against Panathinaikos, Blakeney acknowledged, "Panathinaikos is a great team, plays really good defense. We'll come in as underdogs, but we expect to compete."

A notable aspect of the game was the absence of any Israeli or naturalized Israeli players in the roster selected by coach Dimitris Itoudis. This is considered unusual for an Israeli team, especially with a predominantly foreign coaching staff. While Bar Timor was out due to illness and Tomer Ginat and Tamir Blatt are injured, the decision not to include naturalized player Kadeem Carrington was a professional choice by Itoudis.