A week after the great win in Valencia, Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv suffered this evening their first loss in the “Top 16” of the Euroleague, 70-78 in Kaunas vs Zalgiris. Maccabi already won twice this season against the Lithuanians.
The 8 points margin is a reasonable score that will leave Maccabi in the picture until the final day when Zalgiris will play in Tel Aviv.
Maccabi was in the game only in the first quarter (19-18 for the Maccabi). At half time Zalgiris led 42-34 and at the end of the third 58-45. The biggest margin was 73-56 with 5 minutes to go. A final 14-5 run ended with a Vujcic three pointer on the buzzer.
The influence of the defeat in the TA Derby was clear to see and none of the players was at his best. Maccabi made 16 turnovers and saw the Lithuanians pull down 19 offensive rbds (43-33 for Zalgiris in total rbds). FG% was low: 41% for 2pts & 33% for 3pts. On the other hand Maccabi was excellent in FT with 27 from 28 (96%).