Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv will host Hapoel Jerusalem for the second game in the playoff semifinal series (Friday, 2:45 p.m., live broadcast on 5SPORT – Channel 55). The champion comes to the arena with a 0:1 advantage and aims to complete a victory in the best-of-three method on the way to the final.
The Yellows won 82:89 in the first game held in Tel Aviv, much thanks to the excellent ability of Tamir Blatt (16 points and 11 assists), strength in the paint (Hasiel Rivero 16, Roman Sorkin 14) and a beautiful finish by Bonzie Coulson (16). Ahead of the game in Jerusalem, Maccabi received about 1,500 tickets in the gallery (upper stand), most of which were stolen in less than a day.
“We need to play better in the second game,” stated coach Oded Ketch. “You need to recover well, there are players who played a lot of minutes. What I ask the players is also what we as a team want to do: concentrate on what we control. We can play more relaxed basketball, but still aggressive. We need three more victories to achieve the goal And that’s what you have to focus on.”
“You can do a better job in rebounding,” Roman Sorkin emphasized. “Josh is an important player for us, but we believe in everyone. Anyone with us can be the best player in the league on a given night. They scored difficult shots, both teams didn’t play defense, who knows what, but it was a very aggressive game. Now we focus on the second game and do A better job.”
Only two teams have come back from a 1:0 deficit in a playoff series in Israel against Maccabi Tel Aviv: Hapoel Eilat in 2015 and Bnei Herzliya in 2022 – both in the semifinal stage. Hapoel Jerusalem beat Maccabi Tel Aviv in only one of the 11 home games against them as part of the playoffs – 80:81 in Malha in the third game of the final series in 1999, a basket by Pepi Turgeman from an offensive rebound, two seconds to go. The Maccabi won then 1:3 and won the title.
Apart from Maccabi, the only team to win the double was Hapoel Tel Aviv in the 1960s. Maccabi Tel Aviv has participated in 33 best-of-3 series in the local playoffs to date and was defeated in only one of them, 2:1 by Bnei Herzliya in the 2022 semifinals. The balance of the series against the Jerusalemites stands at 0:8 so far and 3:27 in playoff games. If a third and decisive match is required, it will be held at Menorah Hall on Sunday at 9:00 p.m.
Only 11 teams in the history of the top playoffs in Israel came from a 1:0 deficit to win 1:2 in the best of three game series. Starting with the 78/79 season, there were 80 best-of-three series in Israel as part of the top playoffs. 48 of the series ended in a 0:2 sweep (60%) and 32 of the series reached a decisive third game (40%). In 64 best-of-three series to date, the team with the home advantage (80%) has won. In the last two years, only one of the four semi-final series ended with the victory of the team with the home advantage: Maccabi Tel Aviv, which beat Hapoel Holon 0:2 last season. On the other hand, Jerusalem lost all three of its home games in the semi-finals of the playoffs in the previous two years.
Judges: Omer Esteron, Elad Leibovich and Nir Mayerson.
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