Dubai could not use a career night by Wright, who set personal bests with 26 points, 7 rebounds, 10 assists and an index rating of 42. Justin Anderson added 18 points and Filip Petrusev 15 points – though only 4 of those came in the second half.
It was another nail-biter for Dubai after its last three games were decided by just 1 point – including two wins. Dubai dropped to 7-9, including a 6-1 record at its home arena – though the game was played without fans in the stands.
“Again, the game was decided by one possession. Again we fought back. We didn’t have enough power and energy to break the game,” Dubai coach Jurica Golemac said. “The crucial part was the third quarter when we started without energy, without aggressiveness, without intensity. They got confidence and took an advantage. We fought back and found the rhythm, but not enough to win the game.”
After Dubai led 52-51 through 20 minutes, the home side managed only 14 points in the third frame. Wright nearly delivered another magical victory after his game-winning basket with 0.5 seconds in an 89-88 home win last week.
But it wasn’t meant to be and Maccabi collected its character-building win.