When Hapoel Tel Aviv and London Lions finish up Round 5 in the BKT EuroCup on Thursday, fans can expect a lot of fun offensive exploits.
Hapoel, London stand ready to fill the baskets
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Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv visits London Lions on Thursday in what is a battle between two of the best teams in the BKT EuroCup so far this season. Their only previous game in London was a 93-95 thriller won by Hapoel last season.
Hapoel: Trying to make history
Hapoel remains undefeated in Group A with a 3-0 record, averaging a team PIR of 131.7. It is on track to shatter all existing records in the competition.
The best team PIR average for a full season belongs to ratiopharm Ulm, which averaged 111.6 in the 2022-23 campaign, which broke a record that stood for 15 years. Joventut Badalona averaged a team PIR of 108.5 in the 2007-08 season, getting a 16-1 record and lifting the trophy at the end of the season.
Last season, Hapoel had the fourth-highest team PIR average in competition history, 106.4, and had the second-best mark ever in a single game, 161, in a 108-69 home victory against Promitheas Patras. Joventut holds the all-time record with a PIR of 173 against Guildford Heat on December 18, 2007.
From last season, Hapoel kept a core of players led by Jaylen Hoard, Xavier Munford and Tomer Ginat. All of them rank among the top 15 in PIR this season. Hoard leads the standings (25.3), Munford is tied for fifth place (21.7) and Ginat is 12th (19.7). Another Hapoel player, Braian Angola, ranks 10th at 20.3.
Hapoel leads all EuroCup teams in points (102.7) and assists (26.0), both on track for all-time records. Avtodor Saratov had the best-ever EuroCup scoring season (92.4 ppg.) in the 2015-16 campaign. Virtus Bologna holds the assists record, averaging 23.4 in the 2020-21 season.
London: Better than ever
If there is a team that can match Hapoel's offensive power, that may be London, which has dramatically improved all of its numbers from one season to the next.
Indeed, London ranks third in scoring in the EuroCup at 94.3 points per night, almost 14 more than last season (80.6). It is also third in assists (21.5) and PIR (115.3), which is also in track for that all-time record. After a 76-69 home victory against Umana Reyer Venice in Round 1, London has scored 99 points or better in the last three games.
Star forward Sam Dekker missed a couple of games but returned to average 18.0 points and 7.5 rebounds. Newcomer Matt Morgan is living up to his super scoring reputation, getting 21 points or more in each of his last three games.
London's diversified offense has made the team more successful. Four other players are averaging double digits in scoring: Donte Grantham (15.0), Gabe Olaseni (13.2), Conor Morgan (12.0) and Tarik Phillip (11.2).
If both teams can live up to what they have done so far, those who enjoy high-scoring basketball games should be in for a special treat. It should be interesting to see if Hapoel can keep that place, but also if London can hold on to those outstanding numbers in front of one of the visitors.
Tune in for a really fun-to-watch game in the British capital on Thursday night!