After making a brief return to Israel to play its first domestic game in over two months, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv are back in Belgrade. The Israeli champions will host Anadolu Efes on Thursday (9:05 PM Israel time, 2:05 PM ET) in a battle between two 7-6 teams looking to stay with a positive record.

The yellows will aim to bounce back from the defeat at the hands of Virtus Bologna last week. Head coach Oded Kattash will have Lorenzo Brown, Wade Baldwin and Bonzie Colson back after the trio missed the Israeli league win over Bnei Herzliya. Injured John DiBartolomeo’s participation remains in doubt.

The rival from Turkey, however, are dealing with a long list of absentees. They are playing without star forward Will Clyburn, former Maccabists Elijah Bryant and Ante Zizic, big man Tibor Pleiss and French guard Rodrigue Beubois. Despite the depleted roster, Erdem Can’s team manages to consistently win games, led by backcourt duo Shane Larkin and Darius Thompson. Efes beat Panathinaikos and Alba Berlin last week and added a luxurious Turkish league victory over Fenerbahce earlier this week.

“We are facing a good team that despite its injuries and absences are strangely winning more with every new injury. They have a couple of dominant guards in optimal shape”, warned Kattash. Added Jake Cohen: “They are playing really good basketball. We got to play our best to get a win, we have to put our best foot forward to do it”.