Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv has been battling hard all season to get to the Euroleague playoffs and succeeded in that mission. Tomorrow (Tuesday at 9:15 pm Israel time), with hundreds of their fans behind them, the Yellows will try to steal the home-court advantage from Monaco in game 1 and achieve the upper hand in the quarterfinals series game 1.
All numbers and estimations point towards a close series. Only one game separated Maccabi (20-14) and Monaco (21-3) in the regular season, with both teams defeating their opponent at home. However, Oded Kattash's players arrive with better momentum than the French after winning seven of their last eight in the Euroleague.
"We feel ready and healthy. This series is going to be very exciting", said Kattash. "Monaco is very athletic and has maybe the most dominant guards in the Euroleague. To beat them, we would have to play a perfect game. Even if we can't stop them completely, we must try to at least limit them."

"There's nothing like a playoff atmosphere, and this is a big challenge for us as a team," Jake Cohen added. "We have crucial two weeks of basketball ahead of us, but our focus is only on winning game 1. We would need to take Monaco out of its rhythm because this is a dangerous team offensively."
"We worked hard this season to get to this point, and now we are focused on the first game," Maccabi's captain, John DiBartolomeo, concluded. "Stopping their guards will be a team effort. We'll be ready".
All numbers and estimations point towards a close series. Only one game separated Maccabi (20-14) and Monaco (21-3) in the regular season, with both teams defeating their opponent at home. However, Oded Kattash's players arrive with better momentum than the French after winning seven of their last eight in the Euroleague.
"We feel ready and healthy. This series is going to be very exciting", said Kattash. "Monaco is very athletic and has maybe the most dominant guards in the Euroleague. To beat them, we would have to play a perfect game. Even if we can't stop them completely, we must try to at least limit them."
"There's nothing like a playoff atmosphere, and this is a big challenge for us as a team," Jake Cohen added. "We have crucial two weeks of basketball ahead of us, but our focus is only on winning game 1. We would need to take Monaco out of its rhythm because this is a dangerous team offensively."
"We worked hard this season to get to this point, and now we are focused on the first game," Maccabi's captain, John DiBartolomeo, concluded. "Stopping their guards will be a team effort. We'll be ready".