ISR – Crunch time in Israel as Haifa look to surprise Maccabi Tel Aviv

TEL AVIV (Basketball Super League) - Israel will have a new champion on Thursday night after Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa Heat square off at the Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv in the Basketball Super League title game.

The undisputed kings of Israel, Maccabi Tel Aviv, are eager to start a new streak of championships after last year’s slip against Hapoel Holon while Haifa want to make history and become only the fifth team in Israel's history to win the top prize in basketball.

Both teams had to survive close semi-finals encounters to make it this far.

In the first one, Haifa took on Hapoel Jerusalem and trailed by eight points in the fourth quarter before forcing overtime and winning 98-93.

Haifa, who won promotion to the top flight last season after a six-year absence, had enjoyed a double-digit lead for three quarters, mostly thanks to a huge offensive first half when they made 11 three-pointers from 15 attempts.

"At the break I told my players we can't shoot like that the whole night, so we'll have to make some adjustments," Haifa's head coach Avi Ashkenazi revealed after the win.

He was absolutely right.

From that point until the final buzzer of overtime, Haifa didn't add a single three-ball, yet they still held a 13-point lead at the end of the third quarter.

Not for the first time in big games, Hapoel showed a big heart and great character with a 23-0 run to take their first lead and go on top 78-70 with four minutes to play.

"Our comeback from minus eight was amazing with a huge team defense display," Ashkenazi said.

Haifa managed to tie the game after Malik Dixon hit a big lay-up with eight seconds on the clock, before teammate Doron Perkins stole the ball and almost won the game in the last second.

His shot stayed out and the teams went to the extra period where Hapoel should have had an advantage due to Haifa's foul trouble.

Nevertheless Haifa found their saviors in Dixon, who scored eight of his 12 points in the last seven minutes, and rookie Davon Jefferson who hit 11 out of 12 free throws in the game.

Hapoel had no answer this time.

"It's very frustrating to make such a big comeback and then lose," Hapoel coach Guy Goodes said.

"We didn't have any energy left for the overtime. I think we should have won after that we made that 23-0 run but we failed doing the small things that make a difference.”

Jefferson was the top scorer with 24 points and 10 rebounds and following him was Perkins, who had 22 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists and five steals.

Perkins set no less than four Final Four records in assists, turnovers (seven), free throws made (12) and free throws attempt (18).

Local guys Gur Porat and Amit Ben David set their season highs at just the right time with 15 and 11 points, respectively.

Hapoel got 24 points and 10 boards from big man Travis Watson, who dominated the paint and played a key role in Hapoel's run. Timmy Bowers had a big second half and finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

The second game on Tuesday saw Gilboa/Galil nearly shock Maccabi but the powerhouse still won 72-70.

That was Maccabi's lowest scoring game of the season.

National team forward Lior Eliyahu was Maccabi's top scorer with 20 points, including what turned to be the winning shot a minute before the buzzer.

Galil missed an off-dribble three-pointer by Brian Roberts before Maccabi missed a chance at the other end.

Youngster Gal Mekel, who may also play at the EuroBasket this summer for Israel, had the last ball in the closing seconds but didn't read the time well and took a half-court shot as time expired.

"We had a high level of confidence throughout the entire game,” said Maccabi’s Omri Casspi.

“We felt that we played well and better than Galil, but they made some big shots.

"Luckily we have some players who hit big shots, and that's what won the game for us."

Just like in the first game, the winner held a double-digit lead from the start but lost it early in the fourth.

Maccabi took a 7-0 lead and climbed to double-digits quickly. Galil's run before the break separated the teams by seven at the half, but Maccabi's domination continued after the break.

Another good finish for the third quarter and some big shots early in the fourth allowed Galil to shock the arena and take a small lead.

Pini Gershon’s team used points by Puerto Rico point guard Carlos Arroyo and former Illinois standout Dee Brown before Eliyahu scored the winning bucket.

Marcus Brown, the most experienced player of Maccabi and one of their main players, is carrying an injury.

He played less than two minutes in the game and is not expected to play a key role in the finals for the same reason.

Without Brown, Maccabi will have to look for another player to carry the team when things get tough.

D'or Fischer added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Maccabi, followed by 11 points and nine boards by the big prospect Casspi.

Elishay Kadir saved probably his best game ever for the right time with 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

"We played a terrible first half, probably our worst the entire season, but we came out of that. It felt as if we had played just our normal game, we would have won," Galil coach Oded Kattash, the former Maccabi boss, said.

While Maccabi Tel Aviv are favorites to win, they had better not underestimate Haifa.

Haifa already lost one title this season when Hapoel Holon upset them in the last second of the National Cup finals, but they proved to have the ability to make things happen already in their first season in the BSL after many years.

"It's very comfortable to be the underdog," said Gershon of Haifa.

"It's just one game so anything can happen. We won't know what the pace of this game will be until we start playing it," Eliyahu said.

History shows that won/loss record in games between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Haifa stand at 81-6 in favor of the former, but in their last encounter it was Haifa who had the upper hand.

The last time the two teams played a title game was in 1985 when they fought for the National Cup.

The Tel Aviv outfit has enjoyed the biggest margin of victory in games between the sides with a 121-81 win in the National Cup final.

Haifa's coach in those days was none other than Maccabi's current bench-boss - Pini Gershon.

Dixon could become the first player ever in the history of Israeli basketball to win two titles back-to-back with two different teams.

Last year he did that with Hapoel Holon, scoring the winning shot with two seconds on the game clock to upset Maccabi Tel Aviv.

"I hope we still have strength for Thursday night," Dixon said.

"I just hope we'll do it again in the finals."

Jefferson added: "I think the experience we collected during this season will help us a lot.

"Everything we went through, including the game on Tuesday, should help us."

His coach showed confidence as well.

"We have some advantages over Maccabi, but this isn't the place to talk about them," he said.

"If we find the way to bring them to the court, things might go in our way and then anything could happen."

All of Maccabi Tel Aviv's last four games in the Final Four, that include the 2007 finals, both games in 2008 and Tuesday night, were decided by no more than two points, so no one should be surprised if this year's final is close.

The official website of the league - www.basket.co.il - will follow the finals game online with net casting and text updated every quarter.

Yarone Arbel
FIBA