Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv will ring in the new year with a "home" rematch against Monaco on Tuesday, as part of the EuroLeague's gameday 18 (9:05 PM Israel time, 2:05 PM ET). This will mark the 11th meeting between the teams in only three seasons since Monaco joined the competition, with both parties holding a 10-7 record coming in.

The yellow squad is back in Belgrade after beating Zalgiris Kaunas 78-70 last week, led by the red-hot Josh Nebo. On the other hand, the rivals from the principality just crushed Barcelona with an impressive 91-71 score. Earlier this season, Monaco beat Maccabi 107-97 in the south of France, when Wade Baldwin was absent.



Baldwin also missed Maccabi's victory in Lithuania due to an injury, but he is expected to come back on Tuesday. The red-and-black adversaries are expected to be without guard Jordan Loyd, who only played 5 games this season because of a back ailment.

Monaco are once again led by the fantastic Mike James, who is leading the EuroLeague with 19.8 points per game. He is also the leader for his team in rebounds (4.5 per game) and assists (4.9). Alongside him, Alpha Diallo continues to improve his numbers from season to season and holds a 11.3 points per game average.

What a way to begin 2024. Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv registered one of its biggest wins of the season thus far by beating Monaco 93-83 on Tuesday, a win that improved the team's record to 11-7. It was the sixth EuroLeague win in eight games for the yellows, who are due to face Fenerbahce in Lithuania on Thursday.

It was a dominant performance by Oded Kattash's men. They suffocated the Monegasques' offense during the first half, going up by as many as 18 points. In particular, they made things difficult for Mike James. The Monaco scorer did attempt a comeback and reached his 27 points, but his team could not cut Maccabi's lead to under 5 points.



Bonzie Colson had one of his best showings with the yellow jersey, providing 27 points - including some typical high degree of difficulty buckets. Wade Baldwin and Lorenzo Brown each finished with 12 points, but it was contributions like Rafi Menco's three triples in the third quarter or Roman Sorkin's career record-tying 9 rebounds that made the difference.

"We had a gameplan and the players carried it out", said Coach Kattash, "It is an important win for many reasons. We played the right way and deserved the win".