So far there have been no surprises in Israeli league playoff results as Maccabi Tel Aviv took care of Hapoel Beer Sheva in game one, Hapoel Holon will look to take a 2-0 lead over Hapoel Galil Elyon Thursday night and Hapoel Tel Aviv downed Nes Ziona. Hapoel Jerusalem and Bnei Herzliya get their series underway on Thursday after the Reds appearance in the Basketball Champions League Final Four.

While the scores have been what was expected, there have been a few small surprises on the court of play.

Darrun Hilliard who ended up earning the MVP award in the yellow-and-blue’s 86-77 win over the southern reds with 17 points was no even supposed to be dressed in the series and that was also true of big man Alex Poythress. However, when Wade Baldwin came up with a knee injury and Josh Nebo suffered an issue with his groin in the Derby this past Sunday, Oded Katash went to his deep squad and was able to bring in more than adequate replacements.

When both Hilliard and Poythress walked out of the Salle Gaston Medicin Arena in Monaco they both looked as if their seasons were done and over. Even in their wildest dreams did they think that they would play another game this season as it was clear which five imports Katash was going to go with in Lorenzo Brown, Jarell Martin, Bonzie Colson, Josh Nebo and Wade Baldwin and that was exactly the case against Hapoel Tel Aviv earlier in the week.

But in sports, anything and everything can happen.

Hilliard and Poythress came out to play against Hapoel Beer Sheva and scored in double digits to help Maccabi take a bit of a lackluster win to open up the playoffs.

“Darrun made some great plays for us and in the second half he has been very good.,” Katash said of Hillaird performance as he played the shooting guard position and not his usual small forward slot. “Due to the injury to Wade he was dressed and played the two, Poythress who didn’t play against Hapoel Tel Aviv also came in. We have a lot of imports and I have to decide who plays and just because someone isn’t dressed doesn’t mean I don’t trust them. I’m very happy for him that he played well.”

Poythress also spoke about Hilliard following the game, “We felt great with him at the two and when he played other places he was comfortable playing that position. He made shots for us when we needed him to and he had a breakout game. He was great.”

In fact, Hilliard’s two late triples was able to create separation as Beer Sheva had pulled to within 72-69 in the final frame and that also helped him earn the MVP award.

“We had a good team game and I did what I needed to on the court as my teammates trusted me that I would hit my shots and thankfully that is what happened,” an upbeat Hilliard said. “It was a tough game from a mental standpoint after the Euroleague season came to an end but we are professionals and made the necessary adjustments. This isn’t Europe and maybe we came in with a little less intensity but we need to play these games just like we do in Europe, enjoy and everything will be fine.”

Katash knows that it will take a bit of time to get over the Euroleague playoff series with Monaco but that this is also something normal, “It will take us 7-10 days to get over what we went through from the Euroleague both physically and mentally. We aren’t the only team that had a drop in energy. But as this game came together, we were able to get into it.”

“Moving to the Israeli league is difficult as everyone is hyped up for the Euroleague games,” Poythress echoed. “But we are professionals and we have to approach these games the same way. Beer Sheva is a good team and we have to come in with the same energy and they are all gunning for us.”

While Katash and Maccabi took game one they know that they still need 6 more wins to take home the league championship and despite Katash having his contract extended, it doesn’t mean that the yellow-and-blue don’t need to produce, “I’m very proud to be here and it was important to continue but you know that there is no quiet around a coach. It may be great, but I am all in for this playoffs.”

Over at the Drive In, Hapoel Tel Aviv were a bit shell shocked as the first game got underway as Nes Ziona led by Tyler Bey were able to build up a 12 point, 47-35 lead at halftime. It looked as if Elad Hasin’s team were going to pull off the upset and chalk up a surprise win on the road.

Expect that was before Tomer Ginat had his say on the court.

The Israeli forward who returned to Hapoel Tel Aviv after a couple of seasons in France said enough was enough and started to score and score and score along with being a player possessed on the glass as he recorded a 19 point and 14 rebound double-double to propel the reds to the 90-77 game one victory.

“I don’t really know what was going on in the first half,” Ginat said. “We came into halftime with negative energy but we spoke about it and said that we had worked hard all season long and that we just couldn’t look so poorly as we did. We came into the second half full of positive energy, we played defense and played together. When we play like this I don’t believe that we have lost many games.”

Hapoel hasn’t played well for quite some time in Israeli league play and maybe, just maybe the first half against Nes Ziona was the wakeup call that Danny Franco’s squad needed.

Game one at the Holon Arena was supposed to be much closer than it was but the hosts drubbed Hapoel Galil Elyon 106-69 in a massive blowout that saw very little defense from the Galilee squad. Guy Goodes team were clicking on all cylinders and were hitting one shot from long distance after the next as they went 15/33 from downtown in a shooting clinic that Galil Elyon coach Barak Peleg knew could occur.

However, his squad just had no way to stop the eight players who all had at least one triple in the game as the final three quarters of the game ended in lopsided results for Holon, 29-19, 27-13, 28-17. Those are pretty ugly numbers if you are a fan of Galil Elyon.

For Holon, they looked as good as they have almost all season long with depth off the bench which now includes Netanel Artzi as well as a squad that is not only ten men long but that are also healthy. One can never count out the heart of the champion and Holon will remain as the champs until either someone new takes the mantle or they repeat.

But one key player going forward in these playoffs will be CJ Harris who suffered an injury in preseason after slipping on a sticker on the court in Hadera. Harris returned a number of months ago but it was clear that he was not himself. He then picked up another injury and Manny Harris came in to take his place, but after his 20 point game one performance it looks like the old CJ is back.

“This is the CJ Harris that he wants to see and we want to see,” Goodes said. “Unfortunately, he had been hurt and then when he came back he got hurt again. He’s very important for us but everyone gave good minutes in this win. We aren’t individuals but we are a team.”