It couldn’t have been scripted any better.

Hapoel Tel Aviv came back and came back with a vengeance as they pounded Maccabi Tel Aviv into Israeli basketball history book oblivion by a record setting 112-74 victory to knot up the 2023 championship series at 1-1 as the teams will now head to a do or die game three on Tuesday night back at Yad Eliyahu.

The Reds owned the Yellow & Blue every which way on this night from hours before the tip-off until the final buzzer and then some.

נראה שלא נותנים לשמעון מזרחי להכנס לדרייב אין pic.twitter.com/GcIG9lEa3r

— Sports Rabbi (@thesportsrabbi) June 11, 2023

Whether it was causing havoc at the entrance to the Drive In for Maccabi chairman Shimon Mizrachi who without a League ID card was made to wander from door to door until he was allowed in with a ticket in hand, to the delay of the game when dozens of flares were set off in the Hapoel section it was all Red all game long.

Mizrachi had once said if it’s 10 make it 20, if it’s 20 make it 30 to his players a number of years ago, well that’s exactly the medicine that Maccabi was forced to choke down their throats as Xavier Munford, Jordan McRae and company kept pounding and pounding away at them.

Danny Franco’s team was unstoppable from the outside, dominant on the inside and outplayed Oded Katash’s crew just as they had done to them in game one. Hapoel ruled the boards 43-31, dished out more assists 26-20 and was by far the better team.

“This has been a process here over the last there years and it’s a chance now to play for a title,” Captain Bar Timor explained. “We are very excited and want to do the best that we can. It’s basketball and it’s the most beautiful thing in the world. Sometimes there is no explanation. We expected to win and wanted to win and we were as surprised that the game began the way it did. But most importantly we evened up the series.”

J’Covan Brown wasn’t the shell of himself from last game and Chinanu Onuaku was a force in the paint on both sides of the court. It’s quite amazing how two games could be so different and lopsided and went to either end of the spectrum. Chances are that game three will be a battle on every possession in what will be a contest where the fittest will survive.

“It’s just a matter of adjustments,” Munford said. “We couldn’t get out and run and play our game because we didn’t get rebounds at Maccabi, so it’s going to look like that. When we play with intensity and get our stops then we can play our game.”

Franco also chimed in, “There are games that start like this and it doesn’t matter what you do, your shots are going to go in and the other team’s won’t. We have to enjoy what we did here but we need to get up after this game and understand that we really ticked them off and we have to deal with that on Tuesday.”

Maccabi on the other hand went into the lockerroom after the gene was delayed by Hapoel Tel Aviv fans flares and never quite came out to play the game. After just ten minutes it was already 36-17 for the reds and the rest as they say is history as the yellow-and-blue suffered their worst lost ever in Israeli league play.

Despite the League administration holding a dog and pony show press conference at the Toto offices the morning of game two to discuss violence and other disturbing issues that have offered with more frequency at games of late, the league Chairman Ari Steinberg has yet to prove that he can put his strong words into actions. While he claims changes will come and a number of Tweets about the league and Basketball Association plans for next season were quickly put together and sent out, the jury is still out in a big way.

The flares that are lit up by Hapoel Tel Aviv fans need to stop as per Onuaku who tweeted as such during the break to wait for the smoke to exit the building. Not only are there dangerous as was seen in the Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Hapoel Holon game when they fell through a barrier and set fire to seats below that were thankfully unoccupied, but it also throws off the entire mindset and focus of the game which was seen in the opening contest of this series for Hapoel and game two for Maccabi.

pic.twitter.com/ysE1K0589i

— Sports Rabbi (@thesportsrabbi) June 11, 2023

So weak is the Israel Basketball Association’s kangaroo court, they will only rule on the actions and disturbances of both teams on Wednesday which is of course after the series will be over. There should have already been penalties handed down the morning after game one.

Regardless to all of the extracurricular activities, there will be a deciding game three on Tuesday and either it will be Maccabi winning their 56th league title or it will be Hapoel Tel Aviv capturing their first championship since 1969.

The odds say Maccabi will take the win as they will have the home crowd backing them in a packed arena with close to 11K people of that 1,500 will be Hapoel supporters plus another 1,500 who will descend upon Yad Eliyahu looking to get in as apr team officials.

“It’s an amazing atmosphere and fans in Tel Aviv are amazing,” Munford noted. “This type of game brings out a a lot of emotions. We got to stay focussed and leave everything else and the distractions behind and focus to go out there and get the job done.”

Franco also reflected on the flares and other off court activities, “My job and that of the players is to just focus on basketball and to realize our dreams. Anything else shouldn’t take us away from our jobs. The guys are professionals and anyone who wants to win a title needs to know how to deal with these types of situations.”

The yellow-and-blue faithful have been crucial for the club’s success and were the prime reason that they had such a terrific home record in Euroleague play. But that was also without traveling fans in the stands whereas that won’t be the case in a Derby final game three.

Bar Timor about the championship list in the Hapoel Tel Aviv locker room:

“We see it all the time and it gives us the drive to add another season to that list”🗣🔴 pic.twitter.com/zPIgZqA0a7

— Sports Rabbi (@thesportsrabbi) June 12, 2023

Can Maccabi finish off their season on a positive note with a title in hand? Can Hapoel win their first league championship since 1969?

“None of us were around in 1969,” Franco commented. “We aren’t playing for that but what is happening today. We are 40 minutes from a championship and I hope and believe that we will do it.”

Timor did look back in a big way at the club’s last title, “We see it all the time in big on the wall in the lockerroom and it gives us the drive to add another championship to that list.”