Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv will look to complete a sweep and advance to the semi-finals of the Israeli Premier League playoffs when it hosts Ironi Ness Ziona on Sunday at 21:00 in Game 3 of the quarter-finals. With a 2–0 lead in the series, Oded Kattash’s squad aims to keep up their convincing performances ahead of a potential clash with either Hapoel Holon or Bnei Herzliya in the next round.

Maccabi won both previous matchups in the series decisively, by margins of 23 and 18 points. What stood out in both games was the defensive intensity displayed by the yellow-and-blue, holding the rivals to no more than 73 points in each game. Additionally, the reigning champions enjoyed balanced scoring — six players scored in double figures in Game 1, and in Game 2, no single player scored more than 12 points.

“We need to stay focused and not be complacent,” warned Jake Cohen after the team’s final practice on Saturday. “They’re a very dangerous and talented team. I hope our home crowd helps us stay sharp and keep doing the good things we did in Game 2. It’s a positive sign that we were able to recover and play well after poor starts in the previous games — but this time, we need to be good for the full 40 minutes.”

Ness Ziona will hope for an improved contribution from their scorer Bryce Brown. Brown, who finished the regular season ranked second in the league in scoring with nearly 20 points per game, went scoreless in Game 2. In fact, the guard is shooting just 5-for-24 from the field in the series — a testament to the excellent defensive effort by Maccabi’s players. Ness Ziona made a change in their foreign player registration, adding point guard Darnell Edge in place of center Jerome Meyinsse.

The yellow-and-blue have now won 13 consecutive league games against Ness Ziona and don’t plan on stopping. One stat worth noting: Maccabi has only once in its history led a playoff series 2–0 and failed to advance — exactly a decade ago against Hapoel Eilat.