Maccabi Elite vs. Zalgiris - ShowGame - Welcome to EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL

May 21, 2013

Top 16 Game 6 - March 20, 2008 CET: 19:00 Local time: 20:00 - NOKIA ARENA

Maccabi Elite 80 - 66 Zalgiris

TOP 16, GAME 6

GROUP D

GROUP E

GROUP F

GROUP G

Records

Ave.		Ave.
0-0	Final Four	0-0
0-0	Playoffs	0-0
3-2	Top 16	1-4
10-3	Regular Season	8-6
14-5	Overall	9-10

Referees

Crew Chief

ZACHARA, IVAN, Czech Rep.

Referee

MUHVIC, DUBRAVKO, Croatia

Umpire

SAHIN, TOLGA, Italy

Team Stats

Ave.		Ave.
84.1	Points	79.0
32.1	Rebounds	33.3
8.1	O. Rebounds	10.7
23.9	D. Rebounds	22.6
18.3	Assists	13.4
10.1	Steals	7.9
2.7	Blocks	2.6
13.4	Turnovers	14.6
57.2 %	2PT	53.7 %
40.6 %	3PT	34.7 %
71.1 %	FT	73.3 %
94.3	Index	82.2

Team Stats - Maccabi Elite

Team Stats - Zalgiris

Player Stats

Ave.		Ave.
12.3 / MORRIS, TERENCE	Points	14.4 / BROWN, MARCUS
8.3 / MORRIS, TERENCE	Rebounds	5.2 / JURAK, GORAN
2.4 / Batista	OR	1.7 / JURAK, GORAN
6.2 / MORRIS, TERENCE	DR	3.4 / JURAK, GORAN
3.7 / HALPERIN, YOTAM	Assists	5.3 / COLLINS, DeJUAN
1.3 / Batista	Steals	1.5 / Maciulis
1.6 / MORRIS, TERENCE	Blocks	1.3 / ZUKAUSKAS, EURELIJUS
2.3 / BYNUM, W.	Turnovers	2.9 / COLLINS, DeJUAN
63.3 % / CASSPI, OMRI	2PT	63.5 % / JURAK, GORAN
100.0 % / Batista	3PT	42.2 % / BROWN, MARCUS
100.0 % / SHARP, DERRICK	FT	90.3 % / BROWN, MARCUS
18.1 / MORRIS, TERENCE	Index	15.3 / COLLINS, DeJUAN

Team Roster - Maccabi Elite

Team Roster - Zalgiris

THE TAKE

Maccabi Elite will try to lock down the top spot in Group F and with it home-court advantage for the Quarterfinal Playoffs when it hosts Zalgiris Kaunas on Thursday evening at Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv. Maccabi has already clinched a playoff berth and will win the group with a victory or finish second the winner of Thursday’s other game pitting Olympiacos Piraeus against Real Madrid if it loses. Zalgiris lost its hopes of advancing last week when it lost at home to Olympiacos. The game will be the first time the two teams meet for a Top 16 game in Tel Aviv since Maccabi won a thriller in 2004 in which Derrick Sharp forced overtime with one of the most famous shots in Euroleague history. With Maccabi trailing by 3 in the final seconds to an Arvydas Sabonis-led Zalgiris side and Giedrius Gustas, it seemed that the Lithuanian champs were certain to send Maccabi home and reach the Final Four in Tel Aviv. But Gustas missed both, Tanoka Beard committed a line violation and Maccabi tied the game on a desperation triple as time expired, going on to beat a stunned Zalgiris in overtime. Maccabi would go on to win the Euroleague title that season and the next, while Zalgiris has never advanced past the Top 16. Only a handful of players from that game are now with their teams – Sharp, Nikola Vujcic, Yotam Halperin, David Bluthenthal and Tal Burstein for Maccabi and Dainius Salenga from Zalgiris. Despite that trauma, Zalgiris was able to come back and win the next time it visited Tel Aviv, 102-104 in December 2004. Zalgiris also dumped Maccabi in Lithuania earlier this season, 101-82, for its lone victory in the Top 16. Jonas “The Bull” Maciulis scored 22 and Marcus Brown had 19 to lead Zalgiris, while Esteban Batista paced Maccabi with 25 points and 13 rebounds – both season-highs. The matchups to watch this week are in the paint, where Batista joins Vujcic and Terence Morris to battle Zalgiris’s Eurelijus Zukauskas, Mamadou N’Diaye and Paulius Jankunas. Meanwhile Maccabi’s deep backcourt with Halperin, Sharp, Will Bynum, Alex Garcia and Vonteego Cummings will try and wear down DeJuan Collins, Brown and Marko Popovic. At small forward, Maciulis will try to outmuscle Bluthenthal and Omri Casspi. Both teams are offensive minded, which should produce a fun game to watch. Zalgiris’s care-free situation could work to its advantage as head coach Rimantas Grigas’s charges try to finish their season on a high note. But with first place on the line, Maccabi won’t be in a giving mood and will look for a big win in front of its fans. Wednesday, March 19, 2008 Euroleague.net

Maccabi Elite will try to lock down the top spot in Group F and with it home-court advantage for the Quarterfinal Playoffs when it hosts Zalgiris Kaunas on Thursday evening at Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv. Maccabi has already clinched a playoff berth and will win the group with a victory or finish second the winner of Thursday’s other game pitting Olympiacos Piraeus against Real Madrid if it loses. Zalgiris lost its hopes of advancing last week when it lost at home to Olympiacos. The game will be the first time the two teams meet for a Top 16 game in Tel Aviv since Maccabi won a thriller in 2004 in which Derrick Sharp forced overtime with one of the most famous shots in Euroleague history. With Maccabi trailing by 3 in the final seconds to an Arvydas Sabonis-led Zalgiris side and Giedrius Gustas, it seemed that the Lithuanian champs were certain to send Maccabi home and reach the Final Four in Tel Aviv. But Gustas missed both, Tanoka Beard committed a line violation and Maccabi tied the game on a desperation triple as time expired, going on to beat a stunned Zalgiris in overtime. Maccabi would go on to win the Euroleague title that season and the next, while Zalgiris has never advanced past the Top 16. Only a handful of players from that game are now with their teams – Sharp, Nikola Vujcic, Yotam Halperin, David Bluthenthal and Tal Burstein for Maccabi and Dainius Salenga from Zalgiris. Despite that trauma, Zalgiris was able to come back and win the next time it visited Tel Aviv, 102-104 in December 2004. Zalgiris also dumped Maccabi in Lithuania earlier this season, 101-82, for its lone victory in the Top 16. Jonas “The Bull” Maciulis scored 22 and Marcus Brown had 19 to lead Zalgiris, while Esteban Batista paced Maccabi with 25 points and 13 rebounds – both season-highs. The matchups to watch this week are in the paint, where Batista joins Vujcic and Terence Morris to battle Zalgiris’s Eurelijus Zukauskas, Mamadou N’Diaye and Paulius Jankunas. Meanwhile Maccabi’s deep backcourt with Halperin, Sharp, Will Bynum, Alex Garcia and Vonteego Cummings will try and wear down DeJuan Collins, Brown and Marko Popovic. At small forward, Maciulis will try to outmuscle Bluthenthal and Omri Casspi. Both teams are offensive minded, which should produce a fun game to watch. Zalgiris’s care-free situation could work to its advantage as head coach Rimantas Grigas’s charges try to finish their season on a high note. But with first place on the line, Maccabi won’t be in a giving mood and will look for a big win in front of its fans.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Euroleague.net

Quotes Head Coaches

SHERF, ZVI Maccabi Elite "I don't need to talk about the importance of this game. We have to make all the necessary preparations to come as ready as possible for this game. For some reason, Maccabi doesn't have a good history with Lithuanian teams in the last years, and we'll need to fix that. Everybody on the team will have to work hard for us to win the game. Zalgiris will play with no pressure, and it doesn't make me feel more comfortable. We're one win away from winning this Top 16 group, and we're going to do everything possible to make it happen."

SHERF, ZVI

Maccabi Elite

"I don't need to talk about the importance of this game. We have to make all the necessary preparations to come as ready as possible for this game. For some reason, Maccabi doesn't have a good history with Lithuanian teams in the last years, and we'll need to fix that. Everybody on the team will have to work hard for us to win the game. Zalgiris will play with no pressure, and it doesn't make me feel more comfortable. We're one win away from winning this Top 16 group, and we're going to do everything possible to make it happen."

GRIGAS, RIMANTAS Zalgiris "We won’t feel any psychological pressure, because we don’t have any chances go further. But you have to keep your pride and show that you’ve got guts in every game. One cannot say we will be on vacation trip to Israel. We will fight hard for sure. Our main aim will be to motivate players. But we have talked to players and told them that we cannot go to Tel Aviv without any sense of urgency. It’s a Euroleague game and every game counts here. And we would like to finish our season on a high note, so I think players will do their best. The players promised us to fight till the very end."

GRIGAS, RIMANTAS

Zalgiris

"We won’t feel any psychological pressure, because we don’t have any chances go further. But you have to keep your pride and show that you’ve got guts in every game. One cannot say we will be on vacation trip to Israel. We will fight hard for sure. Our main aim will be to motivate players. But we have talked to players and told them that we cannot go to Tel Aviv without any sense of urgency. It’s a Euroleague game and every game counts here. And we would like to finish our season on a high note, so I think players will do their best. The players promised us to fight till the very end."

Players

BATISTA, ESTEBAN Maccabi Elite "This is going to be another tough game for us. The fact that we lost easily in Kaunas shows how difficult playing against them can be. This is our most important game of the season and that's how we need to show up for this game. Zalgiris can't advance, but they also have nothing to lose and people in such situation are sometimes the most dangerous. It's simple as that - we just can't allow ourselves to lose this game, not after what we have done and gone through so far."

BATISTA, ESTEBAN

Maccabi Elite

"This is going to be another tough game for us. The fact that we lost easily in Kaunas shows how difficult playing against them can be. This is our most important game of the season and that's how we need to show up for this game. Zalgiris can't advance, but they also have nothing to lose and people in such situation are sometimes the most dangerous. It's simple as that - we just can't allow ourselves to lose this game, not after what we have done and gone through so far."

MACIULIS, JONAS Zalgiris "Motivation won‘t be an issue for Thursday’s game. Though we have no possibilities of advancing to the next round, we want to finish our season with a win, so every guy will give his best on the court. The last time we met Maccabi, we were a more ambitious team on the court and we achieved the victory. Maybe the fact that we don’t have anything to lose will help us in Tel Aviv. I think that Maccabi has the best possibilities of advancing to the Final Four from our group. If they finish first in our group, they will face weaker opponent and they are strong enough to go to the Final Four. The second team in our group, I guess, would be Real Madrid, but they would face CSKA right now in the quarterfinals, so it makes their task pretty hard."

MACIULIS, JONAS

Zalgiris

"Motivation won‘t be an issue for Thursday’s game. Though we have no possibilities of advancing to the next round, we want to finish our season with a win, so every guy will give his best on the court. The last time we met Maccabi, we were a more ambitious team on the court and we achieved the victory. Maybe the fact that we don’t have anything to lose will help us in Tel Aviv. I think that Maccabi has the best possibilities of advancing to the Final Four from our group. If they finish first in our group, they will face weaker opponent and they are strong enough to go to the Final Four. The second team in our group, I guess, would be Real Madrid, but they would face CSKA right now in the quarterfinals, so it makes their task pretty hard."

Maccabi Elite wrapped up first place in Group F and with it home-court advantage in the Quarterfinal Playoffs when it beat Zalgiris Kaunas 80-66 before a sold-out crowd at Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv. The Israeli champs finish the Top 16 with a 4-2 record, the same as second place Olympiacos, but Maccabi wins the group on a tiebreaker. Maccabi will face AXA FC Barcelona in the best-of-three playoffs for the right to advance to the Final Four in Madrid. Zalgiris hung close for the first period, but a 10-0 run that bridged the first and second quarters gave Maccabi the lead for good. Zalgiris continued to play hard, trailed only 42-35 at halftime and cut the gap to 4 early in the third period, but a 12-0 run punctuated by Terence Morris’s defense made it 56-40 and the hosts never looked back. Yotam Halperin paced Maccabi with 17 points and 8 assists, Nikola Vujcic added 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, Morris had 11 points, 7 boards and 6 blocked shots – 1 less than the single-game Top 16 record – and Derrick Sharp hit three three-pointers on his way to 11 points. Marcus Brown led Zalgiris with 16 points, Jonas Maciulis added 13, Paulius Jankunas and Marko Popovic had 11 points apiece and DeJuan Collins scored 7 points and 6 assists. Maccabi took control early as four different players scored on the first four possessions to take an 8-2 lead. A Brown triple followed by a goal-tending call on Morris trying to block a Jankunas shot brought Zalgiris within 1. Maccabi continued to score with ease, but Zalgiris's dominance on the offensive glass allowed the visitors to tie the game at 12-12 on a Collins free throw midway through the period. A Maccabi turnover led to a Collins jumper that gave Zalgiris its first lead. The visitors stretched the lead to 15-18 on a Jankunas second-chance basket, but the scoring quickly cooled off as both teams go a little sloppy. Omri Casspi and Damir Markota traded baskets and leads before an Esteban Batista bucket followed by Halperin’s halfcourt buzzer-beater gave the hosts a 24-20 lead after 10 minutes. A Batista basket inside followed by a Morris triple extended the Maccabi's run to 10-0 and caused Zalgiris head coach Rimantas Grigas to call timeout as his team had gone scoreless for nearly four minutes. Popovic cut through the Maccabi defense for Zalgiris's first points of the period and despite a Maciulis three-pointer, Maccabi continued to score and Morris’s basket-plus-foul gave the hosts a double-digit lead. Maciulis beat the 24-second clock with a long three and then Brown dunked in transition, but Maccabi still led by 8. With 2:13 remaining before the half, Eurelijus Zukauskas limped off the floor with an apparent knee injury in what could be his final Euroleague appearance. A Jankuns triple capped a 0-10 Zalgiris charge that cut the gap to 38-35, but Halperin had the last word with a three that made it 42-35 at halftime. Vujcic started the second half with a jump hook over Mamadou N'Diaye, but some missed easy shots on both ends limited the scoring. A Brown three-pointer brought Zalgiris within 44-40. Vujcic answered on the offensive glass and Haperin scored on the break as Maccabi regained control. Batista's spin move increased the hosts' lead to 11 and then Morris stood tall on the defensive end with a convincing block of a N'Diaye attempt and a rebound in traffic. The Halperin connected on his third three of the night to make it 54-40. A Casspi slam capped a 12-0 run that put Maccabi in control for good. N'Diaye scored for the visitors before Alex Garcia added a long jumper and Popovic finished the quarter with free throws as the Maccabi lead stood at 60-46 entering the last period. Popovic and Sharp traded triples at the start of the fourth quarter, but Maciulis managed to bring Zalgiris within 10. Sharp hit another triple only to see Popovic drive for a basket. A third Sharp three lifted Maccabi to 71-57 as Zalgiris called timeout. Even after the stop, baskets by Morris and Vujcic kept the momentum with the hosts as the crowd began to celebrate winning Group F. A Casspi slam with a minute to go punctuated the win to the delight of a standing crowd. Thursday, March 20, 2008 Frankie Sachs, Euroleague.net

Maccabi Elite wrapped up first place in Group F and with it home-court advantage in the Quarterfinal Playoffs when it beat Zalgiris Kaunas 80-66 before a sold-out crowd at Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv. The Israeli champs finish the Top 16 with a 4-2 record, the same as second place Olympiacos, but Maccabi wins the group on a tiebreaker. Maccabi will face AXA FC Barcelona in the best-of-three playoffs for the right to advance to the Final Four in Madrid. Zalgiris hung close for the first period, but a 10-0 run that bridged the first and second quarters gave Maccabi the lead for good. Zalgiris continued to play hard, trailed only 42-35 at halftime and cut the gap to 4 early in the third period, but a 12-0 run punctuated by Terence Morris’s defense made it 56-40 and the hosts never looked back. Yotam Halperin paced Maccabi with 17 points and 8 assists, Nikola Vujcic added 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, Morris had 11 points, 7 boards and 6 blocked shots – 1 less than the single-game Top 16 record – and Derrick Sharp hit three three-pointers on his way to 11 points. Marcus Brown led Zalgiris with 16 points, Jonas Maciulis added 13, Paulius Jankunas and Marko Popovic had 11 points apiece and DeJuan Collins scored 7 points and 6 assists.

Maccabi took control early as four different players scored on the first four possessions to take an 8-2 lead. A Brown triple followed by a goal-tending call on Morris trying to block a Jankunas shot brought Zalgiris within 1. Maccabi continued to score with ease, but Zalgiris's dominance on the offensive glass allowed the visitors to tie the game at 12-12 on a Collins free throw midway through the period. A Maccabi turnover led to a Collins jumper that gave Zalgiris its first lead. The visitors stretched the lead to 15-18 on a Jankunas second-chance basket, but the scoring quickly cooled off as both teams go a little sloppy. Omri Casspi and Damir Markota traded baskets and leads before an Esteban Batista bucket followed by Halperin’s halfcourt buzzer-beater gave the hosts a 24-20 lead after 10 minutes.

Marko Popovic - Zalgiris

A Batista basket inside followed by a Morris triple extended the Maccabi's run to 10-0 and caused Zalgiris head coach Rimantas Grigas to call timeout as his team had gone scoreless for nearly four minutes. Popovic cut through the Maccabi defense for Zalgiris's first points of the period and despite a Maciulis three-pointer, Maccabi continued to score and Morris’s basket-plus-foul gave the hosts a double-digit lead. Maciulis beat the 24-second clock with a long three and then Brown dunked in transition, but Maccabi still led by 8. With 2:13 remaining before the half, Eurelijus Zukauskas limped off the floor with an apparent knee injury in what could be his final Euroleague appearance. A Jankuns triple capped a 0-10 Zalgiris charge that cut the gap to 38-35, but Halperin had the last word with a three that made it 42-35 at halftime.

Vujcic started the second half with a jump hook over Mamadou N'Diaye, but some missed easy shots on both ends limited the scoring. A Brown three-pointer brought Zalgiris within 44-40. Vujcic answered on the offensive glass and Haperin scored on the break as Maccabi regained control. Batista's spin move increased the hosts' lead to 11 and then Morris stood tall on the defensive end with a convincing block of a N'Diaye attempt and a rebound in traffic. The Halperin connected on his third three of the night to make it 54-40. A Casspi slam capped a 12-0 run that put Maccabi in control for good. N'Diaye scored for the visitors before Alex Garcia added a long jumper and Popovic finished the quarter with free throws as the Maccabi lead stood at 60-46 entering the last period.

Omri Casspi - Maccabi Elite

Popovic and Sharp traded triples at the start of the fourth quarter, but Maciulis managed to bring Zalgiris within 10. Sharp hit another triple only to see Popovic drive for a basket. A third Sharp three lifted Maccabi to 71-57 as Zalgiris called timeout. Even after the stop, baskets by Morris and Vujcic kept the momentum with the hosts as the crowd began to celebrate winning Group F. A Casspi slam with a minute to go punctuated the win to the delight of a standing crowd.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Frankie Sachs, Euroleague.net

Referees: ZACHARA, IVAN (CZE), MUHVIC, DUBRAVKO (CRO), SAHIN, TOLGA (ITA)

Attendance: 11000

By Quarter	1	2	3	4
Maccabi Elite	24	18	18	20
Zalgiris	20	15	11	20

End of Quarter	1	2	3	4
Maccabi Elite	24	42	60	80
Zalgiris	20	35	46	66

Head coach: SHERF, ZVI

Maccabi Elite
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG M-A	3FG M-A	FT M-A	Rebounds			As	St	To	Bl		Fouls		PIR
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG M-A	3FG M-A	FT M-A	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
4	BYNUM, WILL	10:27	2	1/4				3	3	2		3				1	2
6	SHARP, DERRICK	19:11	11	1/1	3/6										2	1	7
7	VUJCIC, NIKOLA	20:04	12	5/9		2/4	2	4	6	4	1	1		2	1	5	18
8	ELIYAHU, LIOR	4:37		0/1				1	1
9	MORRIS, TERENCE	35:36	11	2/6	1/1	4/5		7	7	2		1	6		3	4	21
10	BURSTEIN, TAL	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11	CASSPI, OMRI	18:09	8	4/6			2	3	5	3			2		1	1	16
12	GARCIA, ALEX	18:45	6	3/4			1	2	3	2	2	1			2		9
13	BLU, DAVID	6:16	2	1/1	0/2			1	1						1
14	CUMMINGS, VONTEEGO	14:59	2	1/1	0/1			1	1	1		1			1		1
15	BATISTA, ESTEBAN	16:33	9	4/9		1/2	4	2	6	1	1	2		2	3	1	5
21	HALPERIN, YOTAM	35:23	17	4/6	3/7			2	2	8	1	2		1	1	2	20
	Team						1	3	4		7						11
	Totals	200:00	80	26/48	7/17	7/11	10	29	39	23	12	11	8	5	15	15	110
				54.2%	41.2%	63.6%

Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating

Head coach: GRIGAS, RIMANTAS

Zalgiris
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG M-A	3FG M-A	FT M-A	Rebounds			As	St	To	Bl		Fouls		PIR
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG M-A	3FG M-A	FT M-A	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
5	BROWN, MARCUS	31:03	16	4/7	2/6	2/2	3	1	4			2		1	2	4	12
8	MACIULIS, JONAS	21:09	13	3/3	2/4	1/1	1	2	3	1	2				1	3	19
9	KALNIETIS, MANTAS	12:28		0/1	0/4			1	1	2	1				1		-2
10	SALENGA, DAINIUS	9:48	2	1/4			2	1	3		2						4
11	ZUKAUSKAS, EURELIJUS	10:27		0/2			3		3			3	3	1		2	2
13	JANKUNAS, PAULIUS	23:02	11	3/6	1/2	2/2	2	1	3		1	1		1	4	1	6
20	MARKOTA, DAMIR	20:48	4	2/6	0/1			2	2			3		2	3		-7
24	POPOVIC, MARKO	22:45	11	3/6	1/6	2/2		4	4	2	1	2		2	1	3	8
34	N'DIAYE, MAMADOU	23:56	2	1/4			2	4	6	1			2	1	2		5
41	COLLINS, DeJUAN	24:34	7	3/9	0/2	1/2		4	4	6		1			1	1	7
	Team						5	3	8		4					1	13
	Totals	200:00	66	20/48	6/25	8/9	18	23	41	12	11	12	5	8	15	15	67
				41.7%	24%	88.9%

This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

SHERF, ZVI Maccabi Elite "I'm very happy we saw Derrick Sharp in great shape again. We'll need him in the next games. I want some time to see AXA Barcelona and learn them, before I talk about them. They had some crisis and changed a coach. It's very important to win the first game and put the pressure on the other team. I want to congratulate the team, the management and the fans for the first place in a very tough Top 16 group. We made a great effort, and if you saw how much sweat was on our players' jerseys, you could see how hard they played. We have two weeks to get ready for the quarterfinals, and we'll do our best to travel to Madrid after the trip to Barcelona."

SHERF, ZVI

Maccabi Elite

"I'm very happy we saw Derrick Sharp in great shape again. We'll need him in the next games. I want some time to see AXA Barcelona and learn them, before I talk about them. They had some crisis and changed a coach. It's very important to win the first game and put the pressure on the other team. I want to congratulate the team, the management and the fans for the first place in a very tough Top 16 group. We made a great effort, and if you saw how much sweat was on our players' jerseys, you could see how hard they played. We have two weeks to get ready for the quarterfinals, and we'll do our best to travel to Madrid after the trip to Barcelona."

GRIGAS, RIMANTAS Zalgiris "I want to congratulate Maccabi for the win. They deserve to be among the top eight teams in the Euroleague. They have a chance to win the Euroleague like any other team, because they play good defense."

GRIGAS, RIMANTAS

Zalgiris

"I want to congratulate Maccabi for the win. They deserve to be among the top eight teams in the Euroleague. They have a chance to win the Euroleague like any other team, because they play good defense."

Players

HALPERIN, YOTAM Maccabi Elite "It was a great win and we're very happy to have won the first place in our group. Our fans pushed us the whole season and they have a big part of the fact we have the home-court advantage. Zalgiris played with no pressure and it wasn't easy to play against them in this condition, but we did our best. The three-pointer from half court at the end of the first quarter gave us a push, but it took a team effort to win this game."

HALPERIN, YOTAM

Maccabi Elite

"It was a great win and we're very happy to have won the first place in our group. Our fans pushed us the whole season and they have a big part of the fact we have the home-court advantage. Zalgiris played with no pressure and it wasn't easy to play against them in this condition, but we did our best. The three-pointer from half court at the end of the first quarter gave us a push, but it took a team effort to win this game."

POPOVIC, MARKO Zalgiris "Maccabi had a psychological advantage because they had something to fight for, and we didn't after we lost the game last week to Olympiacos. They made some easy points on fast breaks and scored well from outside and that gave them a difference we couldn't close."

POPOVIC, MARKO

Zalgiris

"Maccabi had a psychological advantage because they had something to fight for, and we didn't after we lost the game last week to Olympiacos. They made some easy points on fast breaks and scored well from outside and that gave them a difference we couldn't close."

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