Free throws, rebounds and turnovers were key in Podgorica
Buducnost paired details and luck to defeat Hapoel
It depends on who you ask. Was Buducnost VOLI Podgorica lucky to beat Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv on Wednesday night? Or did the Montenegrin champs deserve to win because they were sharper in many "details"?
Ironically, the man who summed up the game with Buducnost being lucky to claim a come-from-behind 84-83 home win was that team's head coach!
"As you saw, it was a very tough game. Like some of the games this season that we didn’t have luck in the end, today we were lucky in the end," Coach Andrej Zakelj said in the post-game press conference. "I think most important is that with 5 minutes to go, we were behind and the players believed they could win. They showed character, they fought and in the end, it paid off."
In fact, with 8 minutes to go, Buducnost was down 13. With 1 minute to go, Hapoel led by 8 and seemed to have the game wrapped up. But in the final 60 seconds, the hosts did not miss a shot, making 1 three-pointer, 2 two-pointers and 3 free throws. Meanwhile, Hapoel missed 2 field goals and was 1 for 4 from the foul line. If any of the above numbers change, Hapoel wins the game.
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"The game was very exciting," Hapoel head coach Dimitris Itoudis said. "Details decided the game. Congratulations to Buducnost for the win. It could have gone a different way. It could have gone our way. It would have been deserved because we played good basketball. But in the game of basketball, details are very important. Free throws, rebounds, turnovers.
"The fact that we had 17 turnovers and we allowed them to stay in the game in the first half with 9 offensive boards and scoring out of that 15 points, that’s too much."
There is a reason Itoudis harped on those three stats. Hapoel outperformed Buducnost in most other areas and had a team PIR of 94 compared to Buducnost’s 86. But on free throws, Buducnost was 85 percent (17 of 20), while Hapoel was 62.5% (10 of 16).
Yam Madar entered the game shooting 95% for the season (19 for 20) before missing twice, including once in the final minute. Ish Wainright, who missed the other 2 late free throws for Hapoel, hadn’t missed multiple foul shots in a game since Round 2.
Meanwhile, Fletcher Magee, the player Patrick Beverley fouled in the closing seconds who made the game-winning free throws for Buducnost, is his team’s best foul shooting at 94.3% (33 for 35) on the season.
Buducnost’s rebounding advantage at first seems marginal, 29-28. But the home team grabbed 12 offensive boards – including 5 from Alen Omic – and had 19 second-chance points. Hapoel had just 8 offensive rebounds and 11 second-chance points.
And finally turnovers. Hapoel’s 17 were 4 more than Buducnost. And Buducnost’s 15 points off turnovers were 5 more than Hapoel had.
Add it all up and you get a sweet victory for Buducnost. And a long trip home for Hapoel, which will have to go to work on the details.