Valencia Basket plays part of the ‘Play-In’ against Maccabi
BARCELONA, 26 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Valencia Basket visits Maccabi Tel Aviv this Wednesday in their exile at the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in Belgrade (20:30) in a duel on matchday 32 of the Regular Phase of the Euroleague that is vital for the ‘taronja’, who have never They have beaten the Hebrews as visitors and they are playing for a good part of the chances of being in the ‘Play-In’ since the current bad streak of results.
It will not be easy for Valencia Basket to beat a Maccabi team that, on the other hand, is in great momentum. But AS Monaco was also a very favorite in the previous round and, despite losing, the ‘taronja’ team fought until the end (79-78) to overcome the initial 25-15 deficit in the first quarter.
Álex Mumbrú’s team is playing a lot. Right now, Valencia Basket is twelfth with a balance of 14-17, but in a four-way tie with Anadolu Efes Istanbul, Partizan Belgrade and Emporio Armani Milan, right now in tenth position and with the last provisional ticket for the ‘Play-In ‘.
A victory would allow the ‘Taronja’ to continue fighting in the last two days to be in that new phase that opens this season and that gives the last two tickets for the ‘Playoffs’. In case of defeat, all would not be lost, but it would be very dark.
And to that extra pressure is added the fact that Maccabi has five consecutive victories, the last of them against Bayern with 17 points from former Valencian player Jasiel Rivero. And they are seventh with a balance of 18-13, one victory away from the ‘Playoffs’ zone. A streak contrary to that of Valencia Basket, with five defeats in their last six games.
Without a doubt, Valencia Basket will have to improve in defense to stop a Maccabi team that has an average of 92 points in this winning streak. A low score could help those from Mumbrú, as already happened in the first round duel in La Fonteta, with a 75-66 in favor of the ‘taronja’, led by center Damien Inglis and his 11 points.
“We are playing against an opponent who, even though they have played the entire season on a court without an audience, has a great percentage of victories at home. Against an opponent who is playing very good basketball lately, they have fourteen wins in a row between the Israeli league and the Euroleague. We know that It’s going to be a difficult game in which we will have to double down on the inside game,” Mumbrú told the media before the game, in which Brandon Davies will continue to be out.
In addition to Jasiel Rivero, James Webb III also made the Valencia-Tel Aviv trip last summer. On the other hand, Valencia guard Chris Jones debuted in the Euroleague with Maccabi Tel Aviv in the 2020-21 season and was a teammate of the only survivor of that squad; John DiBartolomeo.
DATASHEET.
–EQUIPMENT.
MACCABI PLATTICS TEL AVIV: Brown, Baldwin IV, Colson, Cohen and Nebo –possible initial quintet–; Cleveland, Webb III, Menco, DiBartholomew, Rivero, Thomasson and Blatt.
VALENCIA BASKET: Pangos, Jones, Anderson, Pradilla and Inglis –possible starting five–; Claver, Puerto, Reuvers, López-Arostegui, Jovic, Robertson and Ojeleye.
–REFEREES: Mogulkoc, Hordov and Obrknezevic.
–PAVILLION: Aleksandar Nikolic Hall (Belgrade, Serbia).
–TIME: 20:30/Movistar+.
2024-03-26 18:22:45
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