Maccabi Tel Aviv eased past Hapoel Holon 84-74 in a game that was never that close, as Jaylen Hoard starred for the yellow-and-blue as they took a stranglehold 2-0 lead in their best-of-five semifinal series against the purples. Oded Katash’s team came out with a game plan and executed it to perfection in the opening quarter as Hoard scored in bunches to open up a 23-9 lead after ten minutes as Maccabi never looked back and notched the win. On the concerning side for Katsh’s squad, Tamir Blatt left the game in the second quarter with a calf injury and his availability going forward is questionable.

Game three will take place on Friday afternoon back at Yad Eliyahu as Maccabi will look to close out the series and punch their ticket to the finals where they will meet the winner of the Hapoel Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem series. Hoard scored 30 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, Oshae Brissett added 13 points and Iffe Lundberg scored 12 points in the victory while Adama Sanogo scored 22 points in the defeat.

Maccabi Head Coach Oded Katash spoke about the win, “I’m very happy and proud as to how we played. We had some issues on the attack with Tamir Blatt was out injured and we had to make some adjustments with our guards. But we did the good things that we did in the first game and we really controlled the boards which is a very important weapon for us. Jaylen was excellent and he has been much more assertive the past few games.”

Holon Head Coach Predrag Krunic looked back at the loss, “Maccabi dominated the rebound and we couldn’t begin to play our transition game which made things tough for us. They are a very big team and they are a very good rebounding team which we also saw in the first game but they really took advantage of that in this game. They were very aggressive and we needed to be more physical on the box out.”

The MVP Jaylen Hoard talked about his keys to success in the postseason, “I’m just trying to be aggrieved and since the playoffs and started that has been my focus. I want to go as far as possible. Everyone got me going and my teammates really helped me out. I had some ups and downs this season and it happens in pro sports but I saw that if I’m aggressive more likely than not I’d have a good game. I want to try and find the consistency and I’ve been doing that.”

J’Von McCormick commented on the loss, “It was a hard fought game and we knew that they would be tough especially with the. 3-point shot. We will review the game mid see what we can do better going into the next one. We feel that if someone is down the next guy is able to step up to the challenge.”

Jaylen Hoard came out of the gate red hot with a quartet of baskets for Maccabi Tel Aviv, Adama Sanogo responded with points in the paint for Hapoel Holon while Hoard kept scoring at will and John Dibartolomeo dialled up from long distance as the yellow-and-blue grabbed a 23-9 lead after ten minutes of play.

Zach Hankins and Sanaogo traded baskets to begin the second quarter, Iffe Lundberg went for a pair from deep and added a deuce, Jordan Wright hit a jumper, Yair Kravits put in points from the inside and outside and Sanogo scored while Oshae Brissett and Darin Green Jr. traded triples as Maccabi took a 42-32 advantage into halftime.

Roman Sorkin nailed a corner 3-ball to start off the third quarter, Taylor and Sanaogo both went from deep at the other end to cut the lead to single digits, but Hoard scored inside, Lundberg hit a jumper and Hankins went to the hoop strong for a bucket while Brissett put in a 3-point play and Dibartolomeo drilled home a triple to give the visitors a 64-43 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Hoard scored to get the final frame going J’Von McCormick and Netanel Artzi scored from deep, Hoard kept piling in the points, McCormick kept hitting his shot from downtown to cut down the lead but Hoard again scored while Dibartolomeo from from beyond the arc to close out the victory.