Crvena Zvezda 
Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv Crvena Zvezda
Made/Att
Made/Att
Made/Att
DEF OFF TOT
CM RV
FV AG
Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv
Made/Att
Made/Att
Made/Att
DEF OFF TOT
CM RV
FV AG
Thursday: Maccabi at Crvena Zvezda Belgrade
After Tuesday's dramatic win over Barcelona, the Israeli champions head on the road to Belgrade with a target to secure their third consecutive EuroLeague victory. Sfairopoulos: "It won't be an easy game"
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv reaches the midpoint mark of their six-game EuroLeague stretch on Thursday night facing Crvena Zvezda Belgrade in Aleksandar Nikolic Hall. Giannis Sfairopoulos’s squad looks to record their third straight win finishing the season in good taste.
The last matchup between the two sides provided a tight finish as the Yellow & Blue came on top with an 81:76 home triumph. Scottie Wilbekin led the scorers with 23 points, while Elijah Bryant contributed 18 points and 6 rebounds. Red Star comes into the contest with the second-worst record winning only 9 of 32 games.
“It’s very important to finish the season on a good note, we want to fight as hard as we can for the club of Maccabi and also for ourselves”, Said head coach Giannis Sfairopoulos before departing to Serbia. “Belgrade is a very good defensive team, and from good defense, you execute better offensively. It won’t be an easy game, they have a good structure and chemistry. We need to forget the win over Barcelona and think only about Thursday’s game”.
Ante Zizic explained the required adjustments Maccabi has to make towards Thursday: “Now we have to stay focused on Red Star, they are a tough team, and we have to react to continue the streak we’ve been building”.
“I’m ready to compete when I’m out there and do my best to win”, Added Angelo Caloiaro. “Thursday’s game is very important, we want to continue to get better and to improve”.
Maccabi drops to Red Star 64:76
The Yellow & Blue European winning streak comes to an end with the loss in Belgrade. Dorsey's 14 points and Bryant's 12 weren't enough against the aggressive Serbian squad. Sunday: Villeurbanne at home
Game Recap:
Maccabi started the contest with John DiBartolomeo, Scottie Wilbekin, Angelo Caloiaro, Omri Casspi, and Ante Zizic, while Jordan Loyd, Langston Hall, Branko Lazic, Marko Simonovic, and Landry Nnoko opened for Red Star.
The Yellow & Blue struggled to score in the first three minutes, which led to a quick 6:0 Serbian start, but a Wilbekin alley-oop assist to Zizic got it going as DiBartolomeo rejected Loyd and later completed the 7:0 run with a shot from behind the arc, 7:6.
Wilbekin and Dragan Bender completed three straight Maccabi triples as Jones dished a typical assist to Elijah Bryant under the basket and laid in two, but the hosts hit 3 free throws to close out the quarter, 21:15.
Jones continued his effective minutes as the guard found Oz Blayzer for an open corner triple and later drove to the basket for another layup opening a 10 point margin, 25:15. The Reds shifted the momentum with 6 unanswered points as Hall, and Aleksa Uskokovic cut the score down to 4.
Bryant ran down Loyd and took the ball from his hands leading to a Tyler Dorsey three-pointer, which led to a quick 7:0 stretch and an 11 point advantage. But once again, Red Star diminished the Yellow & Blue margin with a 12:2 run as Ognjen Dobric, and Nnoko directed the comeback, 34:33 at halftime.
Bryant knocked down a three-pointer, but the hosts opened the second half more aggressively and took the lead with a 13:0 run thanks to Dejan Davidovac and Loyd, 39:48. Zizic was Maccabi’s primary point producer in the third, completing a three-point play and adding more from the charity strike, but Davidovac drove to the rack and laid it in to beat the third-quarter buzzer, 45:53.
Dorsey hit a triple to open up the final 10 minutes, but Loyd and Davidovac responded with shots from behind the arc extending the Reds advantage up to 13, 48:61. Maccabi tried to make a run in the fourth quarter as Bryant completed a three-point possession, and Dorsey drilled back-to-back threes, reducing the edge down to 6.
Although Dorsey put the offense on his back, finishing a steal with a slam, the Yellow & Blue couldn’t take advantage of the momentum as Dobric’s multiple three-pointers and Nnoko’s sixth offensive board, and tip-in secured the Serbians 10th win this season. Crvena Zvezda Belgrade beat Maccabi 76:64.
