By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The night started with Maccabi Tel Aviv honoring legendary David Blatt and ended with a 104-69 triumph against Monaco, as the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Quarterfinals between the two teams are tied at 2-2 and everything will be decided next week in Game 5.
Lorenzo Brown with 22 points and six assists and Wade Baldwin with 19 points and also six assists were the stars of the show, as Maccabi got a split halftime lead and never looked back.
To be exact the hosts, after losing the first quarter 24-17, went to the locker rooms with an 11-point advantage (47-36) after a 20-0 run at the start of the second period, and by the end of the third quarter (79-53) the game was over.
Alex Poythress added 13 points, while Darrun Hilliard (11 p.), John DiBartolomeo (11 p.), and Bonzie Colson (10 p.) also scored in double digits.
“I just believed in my teammates, that’s what it’s all about: teamwork”, said Brown. “We came out tonight and fought, and I think that’s what we were missing in Game 3. We shared the ball a lot more and put a lot of pressure on the defensive end”.
It was a tough night for Monaco which looked totally out of synch, shot just 3/19 threes, and got 13 points from Mike James, 12 from John Brown, and 11 from Donatas Motiejunas. Coach Sasa Obradovic was ejected with the score being 70-50 but his team didn’t have any reaction after that.
Eyes on the Final Four
With one game left in the series, however, the stakes are high and Lorenzo Brown didn’t hide his ambition to play in the Final Four: “That’s what we’re planning on, so we’ve just got our fingers crossed right now. I wouldn’t say it’s just me. I have a guy over here to the left of me [Wade Baldwin] who does the exact same thing as me, so I’m just grateful to have him, grateful to have the rest of my teammates out here and we’re pushing for the championship”.
Wade Baldwin pretty much agreed: “We’ve got a Game 5 that we’ve got to prepare for on Wednesday. This series has gone back and forth – we need one more. We need to win one more and go to Kaunas, but Wednesday’s going to be a battle and I can’t wait for it”.
“That’s special. Yes, that’s really special. I think we deserve it. We can’t now feel like it’s going to be easy because of that win, we know it’s going to be a battle in the fifth game”.
With Monaco’s coach Obradovic ejected, his assistant Milenko Bogicevic didn’t say much in his place after the game: “Congrats to Maccabi for the win. We did not respond to their aggressiveness, and I think this was the biggest problem in this game”.