Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv opened the playoff final series on Tuesday night in their third meeting in a championship series in the last four years. Unlike recent years, this final will be decided in a best-of-games format, with every game played in the same venue, Menora Mivtachim Arena.
A total of 8,278 fans attended Game 1. More than 7,000 were Maccabi supporters, while about 1,100 were Hapoel fans, after Hapoel sold out its full allocation of tickets.
Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday and will be hosted by Hapoel. Maccabi will then host Game 3 on Sunday. If needed, Games 4 and 5 will be played next Tuesday and Thursday. All games in the series are set to tip off at 8:50 p.m.