Maccabi Tel Aviv pulls away from Hapoel Jerusalem for overtime win
ROMAN SORKIN (9) was quiet early vs Hapoel Jerusalem, but made a big impact for Maccabi Tel Aviv late in the fourth quarter and overtime of its 112-105 road victory. (photo credit: YEHUDA HALICKMAN) Along with the win came some concerning news: Lonnie Walker dislocated his finger in overtime and will be out for 2-3 weeks. Maccabi Tel Aviv took the Israeli Classico with a 112-105 overtime victory over Hapoel Jerusalem as Roman Sorkin starred down the stretch to hand the yellow-and-blue the win at the Pais Arena in the capital.
The Reds took control of the game from the outset as Justin Smith and Jared Harper filled the basket early while Lonnie Walker and Oshae Brissett countered for Maccabi to snatch a slim 53-52 lead at the half. Brissett kept finding points as did Jimmy Clark in the second half, but Harper kept hitting his shots from the outside to take a lead late in the game. However, Sorkin’s first field goal of the matchup took the game into overtime, where he scored from deep, while Clark also put in points to close out the win.
Along with the win came some concerning news: Lonnie Walker dislocated his finger in overtime and will be out for 2-3 weeks. Walker scored 25 points, Brissett added 22 points, and Clark put in 19 points for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the win, while Harper scored 26 points and Smith scored 23 points for Jerusalem in the loss. FORMER NBA guard Lonnie Walker IV, shown here during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers, brings his scoring punch and playoff experience to Maccabi Tel Aviv.
(credit: Kyle Terada/USA Today Sports) Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Oded Katash reflected on the win. “I’m very happy that we won one of these types of games. You saw some great plays by great players with a tremendous amount of quality from both sides.
There is also a bit of luck involved as well. There were plenty of matchups also in this game, but in overtime, we went with more pick-and-roll, where Roman Sorkin was able to make an impact. This was an excellent game played at a very high level in a great competitive league.