The Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv center displayed his passing skills in Round 16
Johnathan Motley showcased Hapoel's potential
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Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv showcased its full power in an 84-77 victory over Bahcesehir College Istanbul, in which several players stepped up and its defense stopped some of the visitors' pillars.
Johnathan Motley had an outstanding all-around performance, finishing the game with 19 points and a career-high 7 assists. He scored 8 of those points in the first quarter and kept sharing the ball well throughout the game, finding Marcus Foster and Tomet Ginat around the baskets. Motley enhanced their performances with his passing skills. Ginat had 13 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists while Foster added 17 points. Those two players combined to make 12 two-point shots without a miss.
All of them allowed Hapoel to finish the game with 22 assists and just 7 turnovers, in what was one of the biggest keys to this game. Hapoel shot the ball with better shooting percentages, making 21 of 37 two-pointers (56.3% 2FG) and 9 of 19 from downtown (47.4% 3FG). Bahcesehir was less accurate from all distances (47.5% 2FG, 42.1% 3FG).
Stopping some of Bahcesehir's main players was also really important in Hapoel's 10th win of the season. Axel Bouteille was held scoreless for the first time in 82 games. Bouteille had not been without points in a EuroCup game since November 27, 2013, when he played less than 2 minutes for Elan Chalon-sur-Saone in a 73-83 win against EWE Baskets Oldneburg.
Jaleen Smith, who averaged a PIR of 35.5 in the last two games, had a PIR of 10 against Hapoel. Tai Odiase had 15 points or more in the previous five games and was limited to 10 at Samokov Arena.
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After the game, Motley highlighted his team's change of mentality after the break.
"We wanted to go make sure we fix the mistakes we made in the first half, giving guys the shots that we didn't want to give up. So we did a better job of that. Good defense, they only scored 77 points. And I think we scored like 50 points [46] in the second half so our offense picked up, too," Motley said.
"I just try to do whatever it takes to help my team win. I try to be an extra extension of the coach, play extra playmaker out there from the big spot.
"We wanted to be able to finish games. We finished the game pretty good getting the plays we wanted, the shots we wanted. So we wanted to do a better job of that."