A little less than two months before the state cup final, Maccabi Tel Aviv is currently hosting Maccabi Rishon Lezion and is meeting it for the second time this season in the Winner Basket League and the third overall. The Yellows did not sign Angelo Cloiaro, Tyler Dorsey and Dragon Bender for the game, while TJ Klein was included in Yannis Sapropoulos.
Maccabi Tel Aviv increased the gap at the top after a 74:96 home win over Nes Ziona in the previous round. On Tuesday, the champion suffered the biggest loss of the season in the Euroleague: 90:66 to Anadolu Zero, which is in the arena, and now the champion is trying to recover against its deputy.
On the other hand, Maccabi Rishon LeZion composed a winning streak for only the second time this season, both with almost the same result: 84:86 at home against Hapoel Tel Aviv and 84:87 away against Bnei Herzliya. The teams met in the playoff finals in each of the last two seasons and will compete in the State Cup final in two months.
First quarter: 18:22 to Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Rishon Lezion quintet: Kerry Belkshire, Noam Avivi, Noam Dovrat, Achilles Mitchell, Daryl Monroe.
Maccabi Tel Aviv quintet: Elijah Bryant, Scotty Wilbkin, Othello Hunter, Oz Blazer, Ante Zizic.
The game opens with a layup by Noam Avivi. Othello Hunter, on the other hand, responded when he finished a three-point move in which he scored from the spot and squeezed an offense. Immediately afterwards, Jeremy Fargo Dyke out of the arc. Later, Caspi completed 3/3 of the field and went up to 6 individual points. On the other hand, Golan Gutt showed that the host came to make life difficult for the champion and stitched a big three, but Ante Zizic finished a great move inside the point and put his team ahead 18:22 At the end of the first quarter.
Second quarter:
The quarter opened on a light play by Jeremy Fargo, Chris Jones reacted from the sidelines as he was accurate off the arc. Later, TJ Klein first stepped on the board and added two points of his own for the visitors.
Gilboa / Galil – Hapoel Haifa
Only half a game separates Hapoel Gilboa / Galil V and Hapoel Haifa IV in the table, in the battle for the home advantage in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. The two meet at this time for the first time this season, in a rematch from the 8th round.
Hapoel Gilboa / Galil has been defeated in all its last three games (its longest losing streak since December 2019) and dropped to fifth place in the table, after a painful 89:75 away loss to Hapoel Eilat.
On the other hand, Hapoel Haifa returned from a forced one-month break with its most impressive victory of the season, 87: 100 in the Lottery Arena over Hapoel Jerusalem. The Reds equaled a club record with 14 threes, in the same game. The two teams have not met in the Premier League since January 2000.