0:1 victory for Hapoel Tel Aviv in the capital

There were many possible scenarios for the start of this series, but it is doubtful if anyone imagined what happened tonight (Wednesday) at Pais Arena: Hapoel Tel Aviv kept excellent form, led from the start to the end with a margin that crossed the 30-point mark, and returned home with an amazing 55:86 over Hapoel "Bank Yahav" Jerusalem. Danny Franco's team leads 0:1 and will try to secure the ticket to the finals at Shlomo Group Hall on Saturday night. On the other hand, the cup holder must win away from home in order not to end the season and return the series to a third and decisive game in the capital 48 hours later.

Hapoel Tel Aviv actually beat Jerusalem with its own weapon: a suffocating defense that took the opponent's key players out of the game, forced many turnovers, and left them only with difficult shots from the outside. On the other side, the Reds from Tel Aviv went to their hot hand time after time. In the first minute of the game, Jordan McRae took care of a quick double-digit gap, in the third quarter, J'Covan Brown entered the zone with 11 points in less than three minutes and in the closing minutes, Xavier Manford came to turn the lights off for good. Tomer Ginat and Bar Timur, as usual, were there with their leadership and composure throughout, when Chinano Onuaku was quiet in the attack but contributed a lot to the victory.

On the other side, Jerusalem has three days to shake off the weakest ability it has displayed all season in order to maintain its chances of qualifying for the third final of the season. Just like in the losses in game 2 in Herzliya and in the Champions League final to Bonn, the team from the capital did not enter the game well, finishing the first quarter with only 8 points and being unable to get close at almost any stage. Speedy Smith was the only one to show up, but it was far from enough on a day when his backline partners, Levi Randolph and Khadeen Carrington, just couldn't find the hoop and finished without a field goal. Zach Hankins received the player of the season title before the game, and Aleksandar Dzikic was named the coach of the season.

Course of the game

Jerusalem started with Speedy Smith, Or Cornelius, Levi Randolph, Mareks Mejiris, and Zach Hankins. Tel Aviv with J'Covan Brown, Bar Timor, Jordan McRae, Tomer Ginat, and Chinano Onuaku. The teams kept very strong in the opening: Onuaku Started well with a basket and a foul, Cornelius put Jerusalem on the board, and a dunk by Mejiris made it 5:3 in the middle of the quarter. McRae and Timor found each other for threes, and the foreign guard closed an 0:8 run from half distance. Mejiris responded with another dunk, but a layup by Ginat increased the lead. McCray continued his good start with a basket and a foul. Carrington got on the board with a free throw, and at the end of the quarter, it was 8:16 for the guests.

 

 

Smith looks for a pass against "The Chief" (Photo: Oded Karni)

 

 

Brown tries to shake off Cornelius and Hankins (Photo: Oded Karni)

 

Carrington provided a big block from behind, Adam Ariel came off the bench well with a three-pointer, Hankins and Onuaku exchanged baskets in the paint, and Oz Blayzer joined the list of scorers with a basket from a second chance, but Ariel increased again, 12:25. Hankins, in a sequence of good actions in the paint, reduced the gap to single digits, but Timur with an excellent assist to Jaylen Hurd and a FT shot, set 18:28. Ginat scored a typical basket after an offensive rebound, gave an assist to Manford, and after a 3-pointer by Smith, who responded with a shot of his own, McRae, with a big move for a basket and a foul, and then also a hard shot from the corner, established a record lead of 19 points before Smith reduced it to 40:23 going into the break.

 

Hankins vs Onuako. The last two players of the season (Photo: Oded Karni)

Timor came back great from the locker room with an assist to Onuaku and a three-pointer that raised the gap over 20. Smith kept Jerusalem in business with a hard three-pointer and an assist to Hankins, but then Brown - who didn't score at all in the first half - got into the rhythm with two three-pointers in half a minute, and after Hankins' attempts to shrink, he continued his run with 5 more points, 30:56. Smith buried another 3-pointer, Idan Zalmanson and Ginat added baskets in the paint, and McRae made it 33:61 from the line. Smith again shrank; Manford responded with a three-pointer, but Smith, with another shot, closed the quarter trailing 64:38.

Smith. Holding Jerusalem in the picture (Photo: Oded Karni)

Itay Segev left 2 points on the line, Onuaku sent Manford to a touchdown with a big assist, and the guard established a 30 round difference in the next possession, 38:68. Carrington scored twice from the line, the hot Manford continued the escape with a basket and a foul (and also received a technical for taunting the local bench), and the Blazer cut the lead to 70:43 with a three-pointer. Onuaku shook the ring with a tremendous dunk, Noam Yaacov and McRae exchanged free throws, and the visiting swingman made it 47:76 with another basket. Yaacov scored another point from the line, Manford increased the difference over 30 with another 3-pointer, Eyal Harel and Gilad Levy went up to the floor, and a big dunk by McRae sent Dzikic to talk to his trainees behind 81:48. Yaacov and Levy still fought with the goal of offsetting a little, the bench players were sent to the floor, and in the end, it was 55:86 for Hapoel Tel Aviv, who took a 0:1 lead in the series.

Hapoel "Bank Yahav" Jerusalem: Smith 18 (11 in the third quarter, 4-8 for threes, 3-5 for twos), Hankins 10 (5-6 from the field, 9 rebounds), Yaacov 8 (2-6 from the field, 4-5 from the line), Blayzer 5 (2-3 from the field, 6 rebounds), Mejiris (2-5 from the field), and Levy 4 each, Cornelius (1-6 for threes) and Carrington (0-8 from the field, 3-4 from the line) 3 each. Also participatad: Randolph (0-8 from the field), Cline, Segev, and Shmol.

Hapoel Tel Aviv: McRae 20 (7-10 from the field, 5-7 from the line, 4 assists), Manford 16 (5-8 for twos, 2-4 for threes), Brown 11 (all in the third quarter, 2-4 for two, 2-8 for three, 5 assists), Onuaku (4-5 from the field, 4 turnovers), and Ginat (4-7 from the field) 9 each, Timur (2-4 for three, 4 assists), and Ariel (3-4 from the field) 7 21, Zalmanson 4, Hord 2, Harel 1. Also Participated: Bnei Vinai.