Two storied franchises will meet for one spot at the Final Four when Real Madrid meets Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv.
Series breakdown: Real Madrid vs. Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
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How important is momentum?
How important is momentum heading into the playoffs? The series may answer that question. Real Madrid, which placed fourth in the regular season with an 18-10 record, limps into the playoffs after having lost four in a row – and six straight on the road. Real’s last win came in Round 30 against LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne and its last road win was in January when it bested AS Monaco 84-90 in Round 23.
On the other hand, Maccabi may be the league’s hottest team on the eve of the playoffs. The Israeli champs have won six in a row and have not lost at home in 2022. Maccabi’s last loss came in Round 29 when it fell 84-77 at Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade. The last team to win in Tel Aviv was reigning champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul, which triumphed at Menorah Mivtachim Arena 78-92 in Round 16 in mid-December. Since then, Maccabi has captured eight straight home wins.
The big men play big roles
In an era where many basketball teams have gotten smaller and faster, both Real and Maccabi have two traditional old-school center types who give their teams 40 minutes of elite production in the paint. Real’s Walter Tavares, the reigning EuroLeague Best Defender, ranked second in the league this season in rebounds (7.8 rpg.), blocks (1.6 bpg.) and performance index rating (19.2). His Maccabi counterpart, Ante Zizic, produced 12.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 0.9 blocks for an average PIR of 16.6, which was 10th in the league.
Neither team’s star big man had big games against the other this season. Tavares combined for 15 points, 20 rebounds and 4 blocks in two games against Zizic and Maccabi. Zizic countered with 13 points, 5 boards and 4 blocks versus Tavares and Real. The bigger offensive contributions came from the second-string centers; Vincent Poirier amassed 24 points and 9 rebounds for Real and Jalen Reynolds posted 20 points and 8 boards for Maccabi in their teams’ head-to-head meetings.
Two teams rich in history
Few teams can talk about as rich a European rivalry as these two. Real Madrid is the winningest team in European basketball with 10 EuroLeague trophies; Maccabi is tied for third with six continental crowns. Maccabi’s 15 championship game appearances are second only to Real’s 18.
Game 1 of this series will mark the 65th meeting between Real Madrid and Maccabi. Real leads the all-time series 39-25. Twice they have played for the continental crown. Real beat Maccabi 89-85 in the 1980 championship game in Berlin. Rafa Rullan scored 27 points to lead Madrid to victory. Randy Meister added 21 for Madrid. Earl Williams led Maccabi with 31 points. In 2014, Maccabi defeated Real 86-98 in the championship game after overtime in Milan. Tyrese Rice paced Maccabi with 26 points. In between, Maccabi overwhelmed Real 82-63 in the 2011 semifinals in Barcelona behind Chuck Eidson and Sofoklis Schortsanitis, who scored 19 and 16 points, respectively.
Real has more championship-winning experience on its roster as Coach Pablo Laso and Sergio Llull, Rudy Fernandez, Anthony Randolph, Walter Tavares, Fabien Causeur and Jeffery Taylor are all holdovers from the team’s 2018 EuroLeague-winning squad. James Nunnally is the only EuroLeague winner on the Maccabi roster. He lifted the trophy in 2017 with Fenerbahce Istanbul. Coach Avi Even was an assistant on David Blatt’s staff when Maccabi last lifted the last EuroLeague trophy in 2014.
Mid-season moves
Real Madrid and Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv both made mid-season moves that could pay big dividends in the playoffs. Real brought forward Gabriel Deck back after he spent parts of two seasons with Oklahoma City in the NBA. Deck had already played three seasons with the club and he stepped into the lineup seamlessly. Deck only played nine games, but his averages were his best yet with 10.3 points on 62.5% two-point shooting and 50% shooting from downtown plus 4.8 rebounds. In fact, after three quiet games, Deck posted 13.3 points on 65.7% two-point and 58.3% three-point shooting over his last six games and figures to play a big role in this series.
In January, Maccabi signed shooting guard Khyri Thomas and he has played a key role off the bench thanks to his energy and defensive intensity. But the biggest midseason move made by Maccabi was to promote Avi Even to the head of the bench after releasing Coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos. Under Even, a long-time member of the club’s coaching staff as a scout, youth coach or assistant coach, Maccabi has won seven of nine games. The changes he’s made have worked and now he takes on a big test in his first playoff series – and Maccabi’s first since 2015.