The American center bounced back from a difficult night in Game 1
Johnathan Motley showed out in Game 2 to keep Hapoel Tel Aviv alive
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When Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv travelled to Spain to take on Valencia Basket in Game 1 of the 2025 BKT EuroCup Semifinals, much was expected of Johnathan Motley.
In the absence of fellow big man Bruno Caboclo, Motley and Hapoel ended up falling to a 91-82 defeat to open the series. That night, the 29-year-old Motley had 12 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals. But in Game 2, it was a very different picture.
Back in the Bulgarian town of Samokov, Hapoel’s temporary home this season, Motley – roared on by a couple of thousand fans inside the arena – responded in style by posting 26 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block as the Israeli side grabbed a 96-91 win to take the series back to Valencia for a Game 3 next week.
The Valencia players struggled to cope with Motley from the off, with the former Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul big man combining excellently with Yam Madar, his ex-teammate at Fenerbahce and the orchestrator of Hapoel’s offense. Madar, it’s worth noting, had a fantastic game with 21 points, 2 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 steals.
“AB (Antonio Blakeney) played well, Yam always plays well, so I just tried to help. We’re just going to keep trying to do the same thing,” Motley humbly said afterward.
Motley knew himself that he didn’t play to his lofty standards in Game 1, but he was determined for that to not be the case in Game 2, as he showed.
“For me personally, I just wanted to be way more aggressive,” he explained. “The first game I was way too passive, so I just wanted to come out, shoot my shots and go down swinging. You can’t be so passive in a game like this.”
Most of his production came in the first half as he sat on 17 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist at the interval, and a similar type of start at La Fonteta in Game 3 would certainly give Hapoel plenty of confidence about reaching the EuroCup Finals.
Until then, Motley and co. will be resting up and preparing for the battle that awaits in Valencia.