Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv 
Bayern Munich Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv
Made/Att
Made/Att
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DEF OFF TOT
CM RV
FV AG
Bayern Munich
Made/Att
Made/Att
Made/Att
DEF OFF TOT
CM RV
FV AG
On Thursday: Maccabi hosts Bayern in Belgrade
The yellows will play in their home away from home for the first time. Sorkin: "Our hearts are with Israel, but our minds try to focus on basketball"
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv will host Bayern Munich in Belgrade on Thursday (9:05 PM Israel time, 2:05 PM ET), marking their first home-away-from-home game. The encounter will be held behind closed doors in the historic Aleksandar Nikolic Hall, where the yellows will try to win a second game in a row for the first time this season.
“Bayern pose a number of challenges”, warned head coach Oded Kattash, “They have an excellent new coach who tries to bring stuff he did in Real Madrid. They have dominant guards who can shoot, although it does not show in the statistics. We will have to do a good defensive game. For us, the key is controlling the tempo. We want to run through good defense and rebounding and limit our turnovers”.
Captain John DiBartolomeo spoke about the nearly 250 people held captive in Gaza: “What happened was terrible, the hostages are in our thoughts and prayers, that they will return home to their families safely. The support, the energy and the enthusiasm of our fans carried us so many times before and we gonna miss them, but we will come ready to play and make them proud”.
“We are excited to play and want to build on what we did last week”, said Roman Sorkin, “Our hearts are in Israel, but our heads try to focus on basketball. We wish the hostages are back home soon”.
Bayern started the season with two victories and four defeats, suffering from low three-point percentage and scoring only 70 points per game. The Bavarians appointed two-time EuroLeague champion Pablo Laso as head coach, and he pulled his strings to land a big time addition to the squad in Serge Ibaka, who was chosen as NBA 1st Team All-Defensive member three times.
The Maccabists hold the edge in the head-to-head record against Bayern, winning seven games compared with the Germans’ five. In last season’s home game, Maccabi won by a score of 90:82, led by Lorenzo Brown’s 27 points.
Maccabi overcomes Bayern in first "home" game in Belgrade
With Baldwin back, the yellows improved to a 4-2 record with a 93:90 triumph over the Germans. Colson led the charge with 19 points, Brown delivered clutch defensive plays to seal the win
In its first “home” game in Belgrade, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv earned a second consecutive EuroLeague victory and improved to a 4-2 record. The yellows overcame Bayern Munich by a score of 93:90, led by Bonzie Colson’s 19 points and Lorenzo Brown key defensive plays down the stretch. The game also marked Wade Baldwin’s return to action after a back injury delayed his season debut.
It was not a great defensive game by the Maccabees in the empty Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in Serbia’s capital. But after a slow start, Oded Kattash’s men took control of the proceedings midway through the second quarter, never to look back.
Baldwin shook off the rust with 12 points, while Brown capped a 13-point, 7-assist evening with back-to-back steals turned into buckets in the closing minutes. The Maccabi point guard then put the fork in when he swatted away a Sylvain Francisco attempt with 10 seconds to go.
Maccabi will now shift gears towards a double EuroLeague week in which they will face Olympiacos and Fenerbahce. The Israeli champs will look to build on the current form and keep the winning streak alive.
