The superstar duo of Wade Baldwin and Lorenzo Brown was unstoppable once again and brought Maccabi Tel-Aviv a step closer to the EuroLeague playoffs.
The two star guards combined for 41 points for the winners, with Brown having 18 points and four assists and Baldwin adding 23 points and seven assists. On the contrary, Nando De Colo had 13 points and four assists for the French, who have already been eliminated.
“It was a very good game. This is a very tough ASVEL team. They’re French champions, they’ve been battling hard this entire year. It’s a tough place to play, they have a lot of energy.
De Colo’s one of the best guards to ever play in this league, so it was good for us to come together as a team, play a good game and come out with a win,” Wade Baldwin said afterwards.
It was a back-and-fourth battle for the majority of the first half, which closed with the Israelis in front by just three (43-46). In the second half, though, Maccabi took over and cruised to an easy victory, playing decent basketball on both ends.
The visitors outscored their opponents 24-39 in the second half and 8-17 in the fourth quarter and led by as many as 20 points (63-83) to seal the deal.
“I think it came down to our defense in the second half. We held them to 8 points in the fourth quarter and that doesn’t speak for how good that ASVEL team is, so I think that’s a big accomplishment for us.
The difference in defense between the first and second half was communication. We weren’t speaking enough in the first half of the game, but the second half we stepped it up and that helped us a lot,” Lorenzo Brown stated.
Maccabi Tel-Aviv improved to 17-13 in the standings and extended its winning streak to four games, which brings them a step closer to the postseason with four games to go. On the contrary, ASVEL Villeurbanne fell to 8-22 and has already been eliminated.
.@MaccabitlvBC get closer to securing a post-season place after the Round 30 victory in France tonight!#EveryGameMatters pic.twitter.com/7vIImrhtSZ
— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) March 23, 2023
