Maccabi Tel Aviv Prepares for Historic Final Derby Against Hapoel Tel Aviv

Maccabi Tel Aviv will host Hapoel Tel Aviv tonight at 8:50 p.m. at Menora Mivtachim Arena in Game 1 of the best-of-five Israeli Basketball League final. It is the first time in Israeli basketball that two EuroLeague clubs are meeting for the championship, setting up a highly anticipated derby final. About 8,000 fans had already secured tickets by publication time, including roughly 1,000 Hapoel supporters in red.

Maccabi finished the regular season first with 24 wins and only two losses, which gave it home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. The club believes that edge, earned over the full season, could be decisive in a year that has already brought professional and personal challenges. Players and staff have spent recent weeks discussing the importance of the derby and the final, and the foreign players now understand the intensity of the rivalry after months in Israel.

Maccabi will not be at full strength. Tamir Blatt suffered a partial tear in his calf muscle in the previous game and is expected to miss the series, or at least have a very difficult time returning. Head coach Oded Kattash loses a key ball-handler and creator, forcing significant adjustments to the backcourt rotation and the team’s game plan. Gur Lavy also will not play, after returning too early from knee surgery and then dealing with ongoing pain and swelling; the club decided to keep him out until the season ends.

T.J. Leaf had already finished his season during the EuroLeague campaign after shoulder surgery. Maccabi has also been preparing for the possibility that Hapoel center Dan Oturu will join the opposing roster in Israel and could play as soon as tonight. The team says it is motivated by the chance to win the title after a difficult season, and one club source said, “This is the real moment, we have waited for it all season. We prepared for it, aimed for it, and now the burden of proof is on us.”