Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv's players made their way separately to a charter flight that shuttled them to their matchup against Crvena Zvezda Mts Belgrade as part of the 28th EuroLeague fixture (Friday, 20:00, live on Sport5 - channel 55). The squad comes in encouraged after the big victory over the first-place team Anadolu Efes which secured Maccabi its first playoff run since 2015.

The Yellow & Blue stand in fourth place, holding a 19:8 record, while CSKA Moscow is in fifth trailing by one game, 18:9. Earlier this season, Maccabi beat the Reds from the Russian capital in Menorah Mivtachim Arena as there is still one more matchup in the Megasport Arena against Dimitris Itoudis squad.

The importance of the game against Crvena Belgrade is a crucial one for the Yellow & Blue as they try to secure home-court advantage for the EuroLeague quarterfinals. In round 3 earlier this season, Maccabi defeated the Serbian squad 84:69 after a late drama in the final minutes of regulation, which led the game into overtime. Giannis Sfairopoulos's team dominated in the next five minutes, 17:2 to guarantee the victory. Scottie Wilbekin led all Maccabi scorers with 16 points, Omri Casspi and Nate Wolters added 15 each.



"It's an unusual situation because we are dealing with something that is not in our hands. We get orders and restrictions from the Israeli government and health department, so we follow their commands", Said head coach Giannis Sfairopoulos about the trip to Serbia. "As for the game, Red Star is especially dangerous at their home court, and in comparison to the first matchup against them, they have changed with a lot of new players. We need to stay focused, play with energy because, especially in back to back games, you need to be mentally prepared to play a tough game". 

Yovel Zoosman added towards the matchup against the Serbian squad: "It's going to be a dog fight - a very aggressive and tough game in a loud atmosphere, and we are coming to battle".

Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv had its five-game winning streak snap on Friday night after a 76:92 defeat to Crvena Zvezda Mts Belgrade in the Serbian capital. The hosts set the pace early, hitting from all cylinders, enjoying a great night from beyond the arc. The Yellow & Blue had a difficult time stopping the Reds in the third quarter as they opened a comfortable double-digit lead, which was enough until the final buzzer.

Maccabi began the game with Scottie Wilbekin, Yovel Zoosman, Elijah Bryant, Quincy Acy, and Othello Hunter in the starting five. Billy Baron set the tone in the first quarter, hitting four three-pointers while scoring 14 of the Serbians first 17 points. James Gist added another shot from deep that increased the hosts lead up to 9, 14:23. Wilbekin and Jake Cohen answered on the other, cutting the advantage within five, but Baron scored his 16th point of the quarter, and after the first ten minutes, Belgrade led 20:27. 



Baron continued his incredible performance knocking in his 5th three in as many tries keeping Red Star's lead intact. Dorsey got it going with a triple, and Elijah Bryant hit his first shot of the night that diminished the hosts advantage down to 3, 38:41. However, Kevin Punter knocked in five consecutive points that ramped up the lead back to 8 before Wilbekin's three-pointer made it 43:49 at the half.

The Serbian squad opened the second half strong while the Yellow & Blue couldn't find answers to an 18:2 run led by Vladimir Stimac, Baron, and Gist that increased the hosts advantage up to 19. It seemed that after the fierce battle against Anadolu Efes on Wednesday, the Yellow & Blue couldn't find the resources to handle Dragan Sakota's squad as Punter extended the margin to 21 points, 58:79 heading into the final period.

Garbage time was written all over the fourth quarter, Punter continued his great night, as Gist added more points to his final stat line. Dorsey guided Maccabi to put together a 8:2 run in the finals minutes that didn't help in the end, 76:92.