After Thursday's road victory in Kaunas, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv has another challenging task coming up on Tuesday night, hosting the first-ranked Barcelona (21:00, Live on Sport5 - Channel 55) in Menora Mivtachim Arena. Tuesday's matchup will mark another special occasion as 3000 fans will fill out the stands, including 100 medical staff members who got the invite to appreciate their efforts in the battle against COVID-19.

Giannis Sfairopoulos's squad will have to continue to manage another game without Othello Hunter, who's recovering from a foot injury. Sarunas Jasikevicius's unit is the only team that qualified for the EuroLeague playoffs holding an impressive 23:8 record. This past week, they added one of the greatest European players of all time, Pau Gasol, who returned to training in recent weeks and may make his renewed debut in Tel Aviv after not playing for nearly two years due to injury.



Since the start of the EuroLeague in 2000, Barca holds a 16:10 in the head-to-head matchup, but in the Yad Eliyahu arena, Maccabi leads 7:5, winning the last three contests. The previous game between the two sides provided a dramatic finish as the Yellow & Blue recorded a hard-fought 68:67 win over Barcelona in the Palau Blaugrana.

"We face the best team in the EuroLeague holding the best record, and they are playing the most stable basketball throughout the whole season", Said head coach Giannis Sfairopoulos at the pre-game press conference. "We know who they are, how to play oppose against them, and winning the first game in Barcelona doesn't mean anything for Tuesday". 

"We need to be very concentrated to play with great effort and fight for every small detail to give us an advantage on the court. We need to face them as a whole and not individually, as they have quality in every position who can do a lot of damage".



Oz Blayzer spoke about what went right in the past meeting and what Maccabi needs to do to complete the series sweep: "In the last matchup, we beat them with a strong defensive effort stopping them on 67 points playing one of our best defensive games. We were very concentrated and focused on the gameplan, playing aggressively, and we want to show that again for another 40 minutes, follow our gameplan and try to perform another victory".

"Our home record with our crowd was great last season, and it's a huge advantage playing in front of a large group of fans the next couple of games", Related Angelo Caloiaro about the importance of the Yellow & Blue fans. "They are the best in the world, so it's a big home-court advantage, and it's exciting to have so much back".

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Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv potential erupted Tuesday night in the 99:94 overtime win over the EuroLeague's standings leaders Barcelona. In a tight, hard-fought battle, the 3000 Yellow & Blue fans fired up Giannis Sfairopoulos's squad that for 45 minutes played the sixth man's role pushing the Israeli champions for their fifth straight home victory over the Catalonian side and the second one this season.

7 Maccabi players finished the night with double-digit scoring as the big men dominated in the paint. Ante Zizic was in total command scoring a career-high 24 points, including 12 in the third quarter, adding to that 8 rebounds in 31 minutes. The Croatian big man got help from his countryman Dragan Bender who had an excellent performance scoring 16 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, blocking 4 attempts, and dishing 3 steals. 

Angelo Caloiaro contributed 12 points, Omri Casspi 11, while Tyler Dorsey, Elijah Bryant, and Scottie Wilbekin had 10 point displays. Chris Jones distributed the ball beautifully, dishing 8 assists while adding 6 rebounds. Maccabi does not have much time to rest because on Thursday, they face Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade.



Game Recap:

Chris Jones, Scottie Wilbekin, Angelo Caloiaro, Dragan Bender, and Ante Zizic started for the Yellow & Blue while Nick Calathes, Alex Abrines, Cory Higgins, Nikola Mirotic, and Pierre Oriola opened for Sarunas Jasikevicius's squad.

The hosts grabbed an early lead after a three-pointer by Caloiaro and a Bender slam, which gave them an early advantage, but Mirotic responded on the other end with a corner triple, and Higgins tied it up at 7 after laying in two in transition. 

Maccabi scored 6 unanswered points as Omri Casspi got it going connecting for four points inside, and Tyler Dorsey drilled a buzzer-beating shot giving Maccabi a 19:14 lead after 10 minutes.

Casspi extended his great start with a shot from behind the arc as Adam Hanga was the go-to guy for the visitors in the first minutes of the second quarter, driving hard to the basket scoring 6 points, keeping Barca in striking distance, 26:20. 



Caloiaro laid in back-to-back points, giving the Israeli champions a double-digit advantage but the Catalonian side answered and cut the lead by halftime as Calathes scored and assisted a pass to Higgins, who later added another score, 39:38 at halftime. 

Both sides exchanged buckets playing great attractive basketball as Zizic scored 8 of Maccabi's 18 points in the first five minutes of the second half while Kuric and Calathes kept the visitors close, 57:52. 

Zizic added back-to-back baskets, including a one-handed slam tying his EuroLeague career-high 20 points, and Casspi closed out the quarter with 4 straight points giving the Yellow & Blue a 6 point margin heading towards the final 10 minutes, 65:59.

Dorsey hit a floater, and Bender laid in two, but Mirotic put the visitors on his back, scoring 9 consecutive points tying the game at 72. Brandon Davies, who was quiet throughout the whole contest, shot in two straight buckets inside, grabbing a 2 point advantage with 5 minutes left. 



Wilbekin converted both shots from the free-throw line, and Zizic fadeaway hook shot retaking the edge. Calathes floater tied the game at 78, Jones took Mirotic to the bucket and laid in two while being fouled, but the guard couldn't knock down the free throw while Higgins, on the other end, drilled a mid-range jumper leading the teams to overtime, 80:80.

Wilbekin drove to the left, laid in a tough bucket to open up extra time while Mirotic led to Barcelona's first four points. The tight contest continued as Bender tied it up at 86 with a shot from behind the arc, Davies and Higgins converted from the charity strike giving a 4 point edge, but back-to-back triples by Bryant and Dorsey flipped the score with one minute left on the game clock, 92:90.

Zizic grabbed his third offensive board and laid in two crucial points, but Barcelona's go-to man Higgins drove to the basket and laid in two, tying the game at 94 with 12 seconds left.

Mirotic received a technical foul after standing on the outline while Maccabi tried to run a play out of the timeout. Wilbekin (one) and Bryant (two) converted successfully from the free-throw line, Davies missed a shot to tie the game, and Oz Blayzer secured the win with two more from the charity strike. Maccabi beats Barcelona 99:94.

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