The injured Jasiel Rivero will continue to watch the game from the sidelines, while Rafi Menco has returned to Israel for personal reasons. Wenyen Gabriel, who was cut on his hand at the start of the last game against Baskonia and did not return to the court, is doubtful for the game.

The team of former Maccabi coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos built an impressive roster over the summer, consisting of veteran EuroLeague stars, emerging names in European basketball, and a lot of local talent. However, so far, Zvezda has been struggling with inconsistency. Alongside big wins against teams like Fenerbah?e, Olympiacos, Paris, and Monaco, they have also suffered unexpected losses and blowouts, such as in the last round against Anadolu Efes. The Serbs arrives with an 8-8 record, which is enough for 11th place in the standings.
The main threat for Maccabi comes from the Serbian big man, Filip Petrusev, who is on loan from Olympiacos. The talented forward-center (2.11 meters) is averaging 14.6 points and nearly 6 rebounds per game, and also poses a threat from beyond the arc. Veteran center Joel Bolomboy returned this week from injury and in the five games he's participated in this season, he has averaged 11 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.

The Serbs are expected to miss the playmaking of the great Milos Teodosic, who is suffering from a hip injury. Even without him, Sfairopoulos has a strong guard line-up, including Nemanja Nedovic, Isaiah Canaan, Cody Miller-McIntyre, and Yago Dos Santos.
18 encounters between the two teams have taken place in the EuroLeague era so far, with Zvezda leading the head-to-head record 11-7. However, Maccabi enters the game after winning the last meeting between them, which took place in the same arena.