Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv suffered its first home loss of the season at the Menora Mivtachim Arena, falling 95-83 to Hapoel Jerusalem in the 23rd round of the Israeli Premier League. Oded Kattash’s yellow-and-blue team faced foul trouble throughout the game, while the opposing team enjoyed an excellent shooting night.

Nevertheless, the reigning champions still control their destiny in the battle for home-court advantage in the playoffs. If they win all three remaining league games, they will finish the regular season in first place.

The game marked the return of Jaylen Hoard to the court after more than two months, but his comeback was cut short as he fouled out and scored just two points in eight minutes. Maccabi was called for 25 fouls in total, with Jimmy Clark also fouling out after scoring a team-high 24 points.

Roman Sorkin and Levi Randolph each added 13 points for the yellow-and-blue, while Rafi Menco recorded his second consecutive game with exactly 10 points. Maccabi fought hard to make a comeback, dominating the rebounds and attempting 12 more shots than their opponent, but only managed a 41% field goal percentage compared to Jerusalem’s 54%. Jared Harper led the visitors with 30 points.

During the game, Maccabi hosted the families of fans Gali and Zivi Berman and Omri Miran, who are still held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Also present was Omer Vankert, another Maccabi fan who was recently kidnapped and released.

Maccabi’s next challenge will come on Thursday in Piraeus, where they will face Olympiacos in a game that will conclude their European season. After that, Maccabi will play three more league games: away against Gilboa/Galil and at home against Bnei Herzliya and Kiryat Ata.