The yellows travel to northern Italy to face the third-placed team, in search for a third consecutive win (9:30 PM Israel time, 2:30 PM ET)
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv are back on the road on Friday, when the yellow team visits Virtus Bologna in northern Italy as part of the EuroLeague’s round 13 (9:30 PM Israel time, 2:30 PM ET). The Maccabees will look to upset one of the best teams in the competition thus far, who holds a 6-1 home record.
Oded Kattash’s team comes in with a 7-5 record, following Wednesday’s 94-91 victory in France over ASVEL. On the other hand, the Italians are 8-4, fresh off of a 16-point rally to beat Barcelona.
Virtus made a big coaching change this past summer, replacing Sergio Scariolo with 58-year-old Luca Banchi – who returns to the EuroLeague after 5 years. Under Banchi, Tornike Shengelia is having one of the best seasons in his career, with 16.5 PPG, 6.2 RPG and EuroLeague-leading 21.3 PIR per game. 37-year-old Marco Belinelli is also flourishing with Virtus this season, scoring 13.4 points on 44.6% from long range.
This will be the teams’ 5th encounter in the EuroLeague era, with the Israeli champs holding a 3-1 head to head record. The only loss came in Bologna last season, with Maccabi punishing the Italians by a score of 111-80 in the home game.
