Maccabi hold a dunk fest at Palau and pile pressure on Efes / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Rodolfo Molina/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Rodolfo Molina/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

Playoff-bound Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (16-11), which have one more game to play next week, extended their EuroLeague winning streak to five games, topping the regular-season standings leaders FC Barcelona (21-7) on the road, 104-80 (27-23, 30-23, 19-22, 28-12).

Player of the Game EFF 23 James Nunnally Points 18 Accuracy 7-9 Rebounds 6 Assists 3

Maccabi will finish 5th if they win the remaining game and Anadolu Efes lose their last match.

James Nunnally, Scottie Wilbekin, and Keenan Evans were pouring one basket after another, and the Israeli champions created a record-breaking 14 points lead at the start of the decisive quarter (86-72).

Iftah Ziv contributed to the successful 15-6 stretch, while Maccabi were 17 points away from Catalans (91-74) with 4:50 to play in the duel. The last minutes were a mere formality.

Maccabi not only created a dunk fest at Palau Blaugrana but also nailed 16 three-pointers in 27 tries (59.3%).

James Nunnally was a top performer for the winners, posting 18 points (5/5 2PT, 2/4 3PT, 2/2 FT), 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, and 23 PIR.

"We had some good minutes on defense, and I like the way we shared the ball. We're not thinking [about a fifth place]. We are thinking one game at a time, not whether we are going to finish six or five. It doesn't matter to us. The main thing for us is to be consistent and to play basketball the best way," Avi Even commented post-game.

Nikola Mirotic was the most effective player on the court for Barcelona. He finished the game with 13 points (2/3 2PT, 2/4 3PT, 3/3 FT), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, and 14 PIR.

"It's not a very good game for us. It doesn't matter who is wearing this jersey, I think you have to compete more. I think it's very clear that in three out of the four quarters, we didn't even go into the bonus. That shows that our physicality was not physicality. A lot of things for free.

FC Barcelona / Schedule

Olympiakos Piraeus FC Barcelona73-66 FC Barcelona Maccabi Tel Aviv80-104

Some positives also. We must be very happy that a lot of juniors are playing, and for them, hopefully, it's a huge motivation for their future, even though I don't think they were very good today," Jasikevicius spoke.

Powered by Angelo Coloiaro, Khyri Thomas, and Jalen Reynolds' buckets, Maccabi opened up the second quarter with a 7-0 run to create a double-digit lead (34-23). Though, Alex Abrines and Nikola Mirotic's triples kept Barca within a fighting distance (41-45).

Like at the start of the period, the Israeli champs closed the second tally on a high note. Keenan Evans drained three shots from the charity stripe, Scottie Wilbekin sank a near half-court shot at the buzzer, and the yellows were up again by 11 points (57-46).

James Nnaji and Nick Calathes-led Barca cut their deficit to 5 points several times in the third quarter.

However, Maccabi played the better stretch at the end, and after Khyri Thomas' shot from deep, had plus 8 (76-68), going into the last 10 minutes of the match.

Pierre Oriola, Cory Higgins, Brandon Davies, Kyle Kuric, and Nicolas Laprovittola missed the game for Barca.

Maccabi: Scottie Wilbekin 20, James Nunnally 18 (6 REB), Roman Sorkin 13, Derrick Williams 12, Keenan Evans 11 (5 AST), Jalen Reynolds 9.

Barcelona: Alex Abrines 17, Nikola Mirotic 13, Nigel Hayes-Davis 8, Sergi Martinez 8, James Nnaji 8.

Highlights

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