Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv faces Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade in Menora Mivtachim Arena as part of the 12th EuroLeague fixture (Thursday, 21:00, Live on Sport5 - Channel 55). The Yellow & Blue hold a 3:8 European record and come in after a domestic league win over Nahariya, while the Serbians won four games in 11 EuroLeague games.

Omri Casspi returns to Giannis Sfairopoulos's squad for the first time since November 2019 as the veteran forward will play under a minute restriction. Last season, Red Star Belgrade was the first team to appear in Tel Aviv as Maccabi came away with an 84:69 win in front of a full Menora Mivtachim Arena.

"We're up against a team that fights hard in every game they've played this season, and we'll need to play our game, be very aggressive defensively, and stop the way they attack the basket on their offensive possessions", Said head coach Giannis Sfairopoulos at the pregame press conference before the matchup. "Offensively, we need to do our job by reading their defense and finding ways of moving the ball and playing together as a team. Now it's our time to step up, show ourselves, and each player needs to be ready to fight hard".



"After a long stretch, I'm happy to return and compete in the EuroLeague, I've been waiting for this moment", Explained Omri Casspi, the excitement before his first EuroLeague action since November of 2019. "We have a great group of guys, coaches, and the club gives us support for everything. I really believe in this team. We've had a lot of bad luck this season, and it's wasn't addressed enough that important pieces of the rotation were out due to injuries".

Angelo Caloiaro added his take about the opponent: "They're going to be tough. They are a very talented group who beat Milano, they're good, and we are struggling right now to finish games. We've been playing well but haven't been able to finish, so we have to turn the corner. Maybe we're a little bit more familiar with them having five players played in the Israeli League. Still, at the end of the day, our coaches are watching tons of games from this season, so they're updated about those players whether they played in the domestic League or not".

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Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv overcame Crvena Zvezda Belgrade's late third-quarter surge with an 81:76 victory as part of the 12th fixture of the EuroLeague season, improving their EuroLeague record up to 4:8. Scottie Wilbekin excelled, leading Giannis Sfairopoulos's squad with 23 points, and Elijah Bryant was in charge in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 points alongside great defense and fighting spirit.

Omri Casspi, who made his European seasonal debut, contributed 4 in his return, while Othello Hunter added a double-double in his 200th EuroLeague game scoring 13 points and grabbing ten rebounds.

Chris Jones, Scottie Wilbekin, Elijah Bryant, Angelo Caloiaro, and Ante Zizic started for the Yellow & Blue. On the other end, Corey Walden, Jordan Loyd, Branko Lazic, Marko Jagodic-Kuridza, and Ognjen Kuzmic began for the Serbian front.



The visitors scored five consecutive points inside, but Zizic answered with 4 points in the paint as Wilbekin drilled a corner triple and converted two from the free-throw line, tying the game at nine aside. The Reds recorded a mini 7:0 run, which led Giannis Sfairopoulos to call a timeout. 

The Yellow & Blue responded immediately, Othello Hunter came strong off the bench, tallying 6 six straight points, including an alley-oop slam slimming the Belgrade lead down to 1, 15:16. Tyler Dorsey shot in a mid-range jumper giving Maccabi their first lead of the night, and Wilbekin drilled a buzzer-beating triple with three players around him, 23:20.

Omri Casspi drove to the bucket for his first two points of the EuroLeague season and came big on the defensive end, stopping Walden at the rim, which led to an easy Wilbekin layup, 29:22. Dorsey grabbed his own miss, knocked down a floater, and Jones knocked down a three as Dejan Davidovac put his team on his back, tallying eight straight points (six from the free-throw line), keeping his squad in striking distance, 36:27.

Loyd added four straight free throws as part of Crvena Zvezda's 16 first-half converted free throws, and Duop Reath hit a corner three closing out the first half, 41:38.



Wilbekin opened the second half strong with seven straight Yellow & Blue points. The American guard nailed a three-pointer, next possession stole the ball from Walden and drew an unsportsmanlike foul from the ex Holon player converting two from charity strike and completed it with a floater initiating a double-digit margin, 48:38. Jones, with back-to-back great possessions, dished assists to Hunter and Bryant, ramping the edge up to 13. 

Sasa Obradovic's squad turned it around as Johnny O'Bryant and Loyd diminished the Maccabi lead down to 1 with a 14:2 stretch, 54:43. Hunter stopped the Reds sequence with two points as Tyler Rochestie knocked down his first two of the night from midrange, 56:55 heading into the final 10 minutes.

Loyd connected a triple to start the fourth, recapturing the led for Belgrade's, but Scottie and Caloiaro answered with three's on the other end, 62:60. The margin shifted from side to side as Emanuel Terry slammed down an alley-oop pass from Walden, giving the visitors a one-point edge. 

Bryant came clutch for Giannis Sfairopoulos's squad, drilling back to back three-pointers from the right and left end corner, regaining a five-point lead, 75:70. Loyd scored one technical shot, but once again, Elijah Bryant concluded a fantastic fourth quarter with another corner three, tallying 14 fourth-quarter points. Maccabi ends the losing skid with an 81:76 triumph over Crvena Zvezda Belgrade.

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