Despite missing key players, the yellows rallied past Rishon LeZion with an 87:68 win and will meet their big rival on Friday. Zizic scored 14 points
Giannis Sfairopoulos’ players removed rust during the first quarter, which ended with a 25:28 lead to Rishon, but came back strong from the short break. Scottie Wilbekin, Derrick Williams, and Jalen Reynolds were still missing, but even without them, Maccabi ran 15:0 to end the half with a 44:37 lead.
The second half was all yellow and blue. In his first official game with Maccabi, Yiftach Ziv showed great leadership and energy and also scored 11 points. Ante Zizic finished as the top scorer with 14.
As mentioned, the yellows will now meet Hapoel Jerusalem (2.30 pm local time, 7.30 am ET) in a game that would be a perfect test ahead of the Euroleague opener next week. A win would also send the champions to a first title game this season, and hopefully not the last.
