Maccabi Tel Aviv can secure its 58th Israeli championship on Sunday night at Menora Mivtachim Arena, where it is hosting Hapoel Tel Aviv in Game 3 of the final series. The yellow team leads the best-of-five 2-0 after wins of 96-75 in Game 1 and 102-98 in Game 2.
Coach Oded Katash kept the roster unchanged again, leaving Loni Walker, Marcio Santos and David Eppeyani out of the squad. On the other side, Dimitris Itoudis is trying to keep Hapoel alive and at least force a fourth game.
After consulting with the medical staff, Itoudis decided not to dress Dan Oturu, so Tai Odiase and Jonathan Motley will continue to anchor Hapoel’s frontcourt. The only roster change was surprising, with Kiandre Cook included and Chris Jones left out.
In the opening quarter, both teams started with the same lineups they had used earlier in the series. Maccabi opened with Iffe Lundberg, John DiBartolomeo, Will Rayman, Jaylen Hoard and Roman Sorkin, while Hapoel countered with Yam Madar, Vasilije Micic, Ish Wainright, Tomer Ginat and Tai Odiase.
