The visiting team’s new signing Bruno Fernando made a limited impact in the paint as the big man from Angola finished on 6 points and 3 boards, with Sterling Brown pacing Partizan on 19 points and Duane Washington adding 15. They were the only two visiting players in double figures, however, with the long-term absence of livewire playmaker Carlik Jones beginning to bite hard as Partizan slipped to 3-4 after a second successive crushing defeat following the previous round’s 83-101 home drubbing by Paris Basketball.
Having singled out Malcolm, Coach Itoudis underlined that Hapoel’s deep roster gave him plenty of options at both ends of the court. “We’re a new team and still getting to know each other but we had a good second half, scoring 54 points and shooting 7 of 14 from three-point range,” the Greek tactician said.
“Congrats to the players, we managed to win even though we didn’t have a great game. A deep roster helps in having different protagonists every game. The bench contributes too while Malcolm is effective all over, on offense and defense.”
Obradovic, who faces an uphill battle to get his shorthanded team back on track with guard Shake Milton also sidelined by injury, could only acknowledge that is men fell woefully short in a lop-sided second half. “It was a game of two different halves,” said the winner of a record nine EuroLeague titles with five different clubs. “The first half was close but in the second we made all sorts of mistakes as our defense was terrible and Hapoel fully deserved their win.”