Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated Hapoel Jerusalem 88-85 in Game 1 of the best-of-3 semifinals series as Johnathan Motley keyed a late-game comeback for the hosts.
Antonio Blakeney had the hot hand out of the gate to give Hapoel Tel Aviv an early double-digit lead, but Chris Johnson, Roi Huber, and Yovel Zoosman brought Hapoel Jerusalem back into the game.
However, Tomer Ginat, Bar Timor and Blakeney kept the hosts in front at halftime 49-44.
Points from Harper, Johnson, Austin Wiley and Khadeen Carrington turned the tables in the third quarter to give the visitors a 73-64 lead after 30 minutes, but Marcus Foster, Timor and Blakeney closed the gap in the final frame to tie the game up at 82-82 with just under two minutes remaining in regulation time.
Harper drilled one home from deep to retake the lead, but Motley scored inside while Ginat and Foster hit their free throws to move to within one victory of the final.
Motley scored 20 points, Blakeney added 18 points, and Ginat scored 15 points in the win. Harper scored 20 points, Johnson put in 15 points, and Carrington scored 14 points in the loss.
The series will now shift to the capital city with Game 2 slated for Wednesday, as Jerusalem will have its backs against the wall and look to force a decisive third game in Tel Aviv.
'We let that momentum shift'
Hapoel Tel Aviv coach Dimitrios Itoudis commented on the victory.
“We had a very strong opening, and we opened up a nice lead, and we were in control, and then all of a sudden, we lacked concentration on both ends of the floor. We turned over the ball because they were pressuring and had a bad selection of shots, and they were able to play in transition. We let that momentum shift, and we had to make stops as we discussed at the start of the fourth quarter.”
Jerusalem bench boss Yonatan Alon spoke about the game from his point of view after having started off slowly.
“Nothing special happened, we took control of the game at some point, we came back slowly. We controlled it, and they turned it around. This game is decided by a lot of small things, not necessarily what happened in the last few minutes. We allowed a lot of points, we need to learn from that.”
Foster, who knocked down his clutch free throws at the end of the game, spoke about the win.
“It was a big win for us, and we showed a lot of character. We did the little things defensively, and it wasn’t pretty, but it’s the playoffs. It’s not about being pretty; it’s about getting the job done, and I am happy we were able to come away with a win in the first game.”
Harper spoke about allowing Hapoel Tel Aviv to come back from double-digits in the fourth quarter.
“I feel like we played the whole game the same way, and we had some good looks and good shots. But sometimes good shots don’t fall, and we had to depend on our defense, and we allowed them to get out on transition late in the game. That is something we have to fix going forward.”
