Riding a five-game Israeli league winning streak, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv will travel to the country’s capital on Friday in an effort to extend the run. The yellows are set to face Hapoel Jerusalem (1:30 PM Israel time, 6:30 AM ET) in a matchup between the reigning champions and the cup holders.

Oded Kattash chose to use the services of Lorenzo Brown, Wade Baldwin, Bonzie Colson, Jasiel Rivero and Josh Nebo as his five foreign players in the game roster.

“Jerusalem are a good, tough team with a defensive orientation”, said coach Kattash ahead of the game, “We are not the only team who struggles against them. We arrive in good shape and know what we want to do, but it will not be and easy task”.

The reds departed with their head coach Aleksandar D?iki? during the ongoing war in Gaza, and replaced him with greek tactician Ilias Kantzouris. They are led by swingman Levi Randolph, who is responsible for 15.7 points per game, along with veteran forward Chris Johnson in his second stint with the team.