Maccabi continues to cope with a depleted roster, missing injured big men Jaylen Hoard and Jasiel Rivero. In addition, Levi Randolph, who did not play in the last game against Ness Ziona, will continue to rest and did not travel with the team to the Serbian capital. On the other hand, Omer Mayer, who suffered from back pain and also missed the last league game, is available for coach Kattash. The team held a final practice at the National Sports Center in Hadar Yosef before departing for Belgrade and will conduct a traditional pre-game shooting session at the arena on game day.

Virtus is enduring a tough season, coming into the matchup against Maccabi in 17th place with a 7-22 record. Even the departure of coach Luca Banchi and the arrival of interim coach Du?ko Ivanovi?, have not turned things around, as the Italian team has now suffered seven consecutive EuroLeague losses. Veteran forward Will Clyburn, who joined the team in the summer, has been sidelined with an injury since early January. However, according to local media reports, he may return soon—possibly even against Maccabi.
The previous encounter between the teams this season ended in a disappointing 77-84 loss for Maccabi in Italy. However, the EuroLeague-era head-to-head record (since 2000) slightly favors the Israeli team, 4-3. Notably, Maccabi has won all three of its home games against Virtus in this period by an average margin of 25.3 points.