The Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings heading into Round 29 have nine teams within three victories of each other in a battle for the final three playoff spots. In the best position among those is a group of four teams, each with 15-13 records, two of whom square off on Thursday when Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv hosts Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz.
The excitement about this game is not only about two teams' records and position in the standing, but also about their recent play. Maccabi is coming off an inspired performance in which it ran past Anadolu Efes Istanbul 64-86 at Sinan Erdem Dome last week. Baskonia and its top ranked scoring offense (86.6 ppg.) lost its last game at home against AS Monaco, but not before it pulled out a memorable 81-85 road stunner over Real Madrid on Matthew Costello's last-second four-point play.
Those performances went a long way towards each having chances to secure a postseason presence, something that has become rare for these two clubs in recent years.
Maccabi ended its six-year playoff drought last season, although it has not won a single playoff game since 2014, the year of its last EuroLeague crown. Baskonia has been missing in the playoffs since 2019. It was been a sharp turn of events considering that one club or the other had been in the playoffs every single season between 2005 and 2019, and six times both were.
Longtime rivals, Maccabi and Baskonia have met 34 times this century and stand tied at 17 wins apiece. These two sides have played some historic games, including the 2005 championship game, the 2006 Final Four semifinals and a four-game 2011 playoff series. Each side hopes that Thursday's game can help pave the path to restoring its glory days.
The stakes on the line on Thursday are certainly high.