Partizan headed to Tel Aviv for the opening round of the EuroLeague to face the ‘pride of Israel.’ The home team won by 96:81.
The most important piece of information ahead of this game was that Wade Baldwin would not play for Maccabi Tel Aviv, one of the team’s best players.
In his absence, Lorenzo Brown took the reins, scoring 10 points in just a few minutes, giving the Israeli team a 13-7 lead. Bonzie Colson also played well on his side, while Partizan struggled to score. Maccabi took advantage of this, leading by double digits in the opening quarter, with a score of 27-16 after ten minutes of play.
Although there was a moment when the home team had a significant 14-point lead at the start of the second quarter, fresh blood in Partizan’s ranks was brought in by Aleksa Avramovic. Led by the Serbian national team player, the black and whites created a 9-0 run, forcing Oded Kattash to call a timeout. Just when it seemed that Partizan had managed to catch up, their opponents responded with a 13-1 run, achieving their largest lead of 17 points by then. Avramovic tried in every way to keep his team in the game, but Brown on the other side was an insurmountable obstacle, and Maccabi led 55-43 at halftime.
“The third quarter offered a much slower pace of play and lower efficiency for both teams. Even in such a game rhythm, Maccabi found ways to maintain a double-digit lead (61:50). Jasiel Rivero made good use of his minutes, while on the other side, P.J. Dozier scored five consecutive points. Partizan once again had problems with their offensive organization, and the home team took advantage of it to reach a huge 16-point lead (74:58) before the final ten minutes.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Maccabi took a lead of more than 20 points for the first time during the game. Not even a sharp timeout from coach Zeljko Obradovic helped, and Maccabi comfortably maintained the lead until the end. They earned their first victory of the season, while Partizan showed all their weaknesses.
The best individual in the winning team was Lorenzo Brown with 22 points and seven assists. Roman Sorkin (14), Josh Nebo (14), and Bonzie Colson (12) also scored in double digits. On the black and white side, Aleksa Avramovic stood out with 24 points, followed by Kevin Punter with 11, and P.J. Dozier also scored 11.
In the next round of the EuroLeague, Partizan will face another away game, this time against Asvel in France, while Maccabi will travel to face Milan in the ‘fashion capital.’
MACCABI TEL AVIV – PARTIZAN 96:81 (27:16, 28:27, 19:15, 22:23)
Arena: “Menora Mivtachim Arena”, Tel Aviv
Referees: Perez, Vilius, Kardum
Maccabi: Antonius 4, Webb 3, Brown 22, Menco, Sorkin 14, Dibartolomeo 6, Rivero 11, Cohen 2, Nebo 14, Blatt 8, Colson 12
Partizan: LeDay 5, Avramovic 24, Koprivica 6, Punter 11, Smailagic 11, Jaramaz, Nunnally 10, Trifunovic 2, Andjusic, Dozier 9, Ponitka, Kaminsky 2