The duo came up big to subdue Baskonia as the visiting team’s long-range firepower dried up in crunch time.
James Webb and Josh Nebo dominated at both ends for clinical Maccabi
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Regular Season
Round 15 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv engineered an 89-81 home win over Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz on the back of highly productive performances from center Josh Nebo and forward James Webb, who racked up 17 points apiece to lead the Israeli outfit.
Nebo got Maccabi’s offense going with 7 first-quarter points and Webb picked up the mantle in the second half, as Maccabi stifled the visitors with ironclad defense down the stretch.
Usually lethal from long range, Baskonia was confined to shooting 10 of 33 from downtown and 15 of 30 from two-point territory, having been forced to take a barrage of tough shots in the last few minutes of the fast-paced game in Belgrade’s Aleksandar Nikolic Hall.
With the rollercoaster swinging both ways throughout, Maccabi prevailed after winning the fourth quarter 21-14 with Nebo and Webb reigning supreme at both ends of the floor. They combined for 19 rebounds, with Nebo picking up 11 as Maccabi dominated the boards 50-35. The hosts prevailed 16-7 on the offensive end, compensating for mediocre shooting as they hit 22 of 48 from two-point range and 8 of 26 from beyond the arc.
“We turned up our defensive intensity in the second half,” Webb pointed out the key to victory in a post-game interview on EuroLeague TV. “We rebounded the ball well and in the end, we got the stops, that was the key. They are a very fast-paced and high-scoring team, so we knew we had to pick up the energy.”
Maccbi head coach Oded Kattash echoed Webb’s views. “There are no easy games in the EuroLeague, especially against dangerous teams like Baskonia,” he said. “We talked at halftime and said the game plan worked pretty well. I felt we needed to relax a little bit and I like the way the team reacted in the second half. It wasn’t our best offensive game, but I told the players we needed to stay calm and play our game.”
Kattash also said the team needed to recuperate ahead of Thursday’s “home” game against Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade, a team all too familiar with the gym where Maccabi has been hosting its rivals due to the ongoing armed conflict in Israel.
“Another tough game in the double-round week and it’s a home court game, but we can’t count on that basically because we are playing Red Star,” said Kattash.