That's why he's a legend in Holon: Chris Johnson sends Galatasaray to 0-2

HOLON (Israel) - We're used to seeing Hapoel U-NET Holon's forward dominate in low scoring defensive games, but this time around Chris Johnson showed his offensive arsenal. His season-high earned him a standing ovation from the packed stands in Israel.

Holon won the game 98-89, getting 55 points in the second half while surviving an elite shooting night by Galatasaray Nef, who dropped to bottom of the group after two games played.

Turning point: Teams were trading blows all game long, and it seemed Galatasaray were putting together a strong run to finally catch their hosts sleeping in the fourth quarter. 

But coach Guy Goodes turned to his two most experienced players. Guy Pnini provided the assist, Chris Johnson knocked down a huge three-pointer from the left 45 to push the gap back to six points with three minutes left.

Although that kind of margin is not a decisive one, the timing of the triple took the air out of Galatasaray's sails, and the hosts cruised to a win by nine points the rest of the way.

Game hero: Chris Johnson found home in Holon in 2020, and it doesn't look like he'll ever walk away from the club. His defense turned him into a fan favorite, he won the Best Defensive Player of the Israeli League last season, and his confidence is sky high, especially in home games.

He finished with 26 points, his season-high, with 8 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and a block, while not committing a single turnover in 34 minutes of work.

 

Johnson's endless wingspan was especially troubling for Galatasaray, he was defending everybody from the backcourt and easily switching to bigger guys in the frontcourt, being a nightmare matchup for the team from Istanbul.

Stats don't lie: DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell is arguably the biggest candidate for the MVP of the season award, but he was held to 10 points, his season-low. Without his usual production, Galatasaray needed a boost off the bench, and it never arrived, with the hosts going +13 in bench scoring.

 

Bottom line: Holon are up to 2-1 in Group I, the same record as group leaders JDA Dijon. They showed how scary they can be, Tyrus McGee had 17 points, Michale Kyser went 6-of-6 from the field for 16 points, Joe Ragland had 13 with 8 assists, Adam Smith with 11 and Steve Zack with 10 were also in double figures.

Honorable mention: Guy Pnini, 5 points, 6 assists, +20 with him on the floor.

Dee Bost had 21 points for Galatasaray who shot 15-of-28 from beyond the arc. There is certainly room for improvement for coach Ekrem Memnun's team, and they will get to show if they learned their lesson already on Thursday, when they take on Holon in Israel.

They said:

"It was a good high-scoring game. We were in control in the first half, we easily gave that away, and in the second half it was a tough game until the last quarter when they took the lead and that fourth quarter decided the outcome. We didn't get enough stops. Gave away easy buckets in important moments, and that's it." - Vasilije Pusica, Galatasaray Nef

"Holon team had an almost excellent offensive game, especially Chris Johnson and Tyrus McGee. Our plan was to stop them, but we couldn't execute. This is the problem we've had all season, we are still fighting to fix it, in many games we had double digit leads, many games, and then we get softer and our defense... We made simple mistakes, lose focus, and they manage to come back in their home, in front of their home crowd. They beat us, we congratulate them." - Galatasaray Nef head coach Ekrem Memnun

"They did a good job shooting threes on the road, that's one of the things coach emphasized before the game. We stuck with it, we had to outscore them to win the game. There's a few things we have to clean up and get ready for Thursday." - Chris Johnson, Hapoel U-NET Holon

"I'm happy for the great win at home. We knew that if we want to have a chance to fight for the top eight, it will have to be going through winning our home games. We played today against one of the best BCL teams, second in scoring, we saw their firepower from outside, they scored 15 threes, that was a big advantage for them. We were a little bit more focused in the second half. We won the game, but the game on Thursday will be a new one, different place, we'll do our best to win there, also." - Hapoel U-NET Holon head coach Guy Goodes