Hapoel Tel Aviv Hosts Anadolu Efes in EuroLeague Clash

Hapoel Tel Aviv is currently hosting Anadolu Efes in a EuroLeague matchup, playing their home game at the Arena Botevgrad in Bulgaria. The Israeli team, coached by Dimitris Itoudis, is seeking to extend a positive streak in the European competition, having won their last three EuroLeague games. This includes victories over Besiktas (100-82), Panathinaikos (91-81), and Virtus Bologna (90-81), with Zach LeDay notably scoring 22 points against Bologna. However, Hapoel Tel Aviv is coming off a domestic league loss to Hapoel Jerusalem (60-70) on October 25th, which ended a five-game winning run across all competitions.

Anadolu Efes, on the other hand, has secured two consecutive EuroLeague wins, improving their record to three wins and four losses. They defeated Zalgiris Kaunas (85-70) and Besiktas (89-80), with Cameron Payne scoring 22 points in the latter. The Turkish team also won their most recent domestic league game against Korfez Basket (93-77) and aims to carry this momentum into the EuroLeague contest.

Last season, Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated Anadolu Efes in both of their encounters. They won 87-81 in Turkey in October 2025 and secured another victory, 71-66, in January 2026 after a second-half comeback. Hapoel Tel Aviv hopes to maintain their perfect record against the Istanbul-based team.

The starting lineups for the first quarter included Hapoel Tel Aviv's Elijah Bryant, Amir Coffey, Tomas Satoransky, Zach LeDay, and Dan O'Rourke. Anadolu Efes' starters were Jordan Loyd, Dario Šarić, Collin Malcolm, Cameron Payne, and Bruno Fernando. The game began with back-and-forth scoring, including early three-pointers from Malcolm and Payne for Anadolu Efes, and a response from Bryant and a three-pointer from LeDay for Hapoel Tel Aviv. Loyd also scored for Anadolu Efes, giving them an early 8-6 lead.