J'Covan Brown inspired Hapoel past Hamburg in rare bench role
There was some surprise at Shlomo Group Arena when the starting fives were announced ahead of Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv's Round 16 clash against Veolia Towers Hamburg in the 7DAYS EuroCup on Tuesday evening, as star guard J'Covan Brown had to make do with a place on the bench.
Brown had started 12 of his 13 games for Hapoel prior to Tuesday, with his only previous bench appearance coming in an 60-78 win at Dolomiti Energia Trento in Round 12. That night, the 33-year-old had one of his least memorable displays in his rookie EuroCup season, ending the game with 4 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.
It was a different story in Round 16, though. After Hapoel went 4-11 behind in the first 3:36 against Hamburg, Brown's name was called. The guard, along with forward Jaylen Hoard, entered the action and soon started to make things happen, scoring 6 points in a hurry to breathe some life into Hapoel's offense, 17-23. He dished 1 assist before the end of the first quarter, too.
Brown racked up a further 4 points, 2 assists and 1 steal in the opening 5:36 of the second quarter, before taking a well-deserved rest on the bench with Hapoel ahead 43-36. At halftime, he had 10 points – tied with JP Tokoto and Hoard for the most by a Hapoel player – after going 4-of-5 from two-point range and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line, while he also had 3 assists, 1 steal and 0 turnovers to his name.
Hapoel was down 52-54 at the break, but it wrestled back control of proceedings in the fourth quarter after a back-and-forth battle in the third. The Israeli team went on to win the game 91-85, as Brown finished the contest with 21 points, which ties the season high he set against Paris Basketball in Round 2, 1 rebound, 5 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and a 23 PIR.
Coming off the bench is unlikely to be a regular occurrence for Brown, but he once again displayed the leadership qualities that have put him firmly in the race to be named MVP come the end of the season. Hapoel is now in a great position to secure home-court advantage in the playoffs, with a 7-1 record at home and 11-5 overall thanks to Tuesday's result, and very few teams will like the idea of taking on Brown and co. in the postseason.