Maccabi Tel Aviv were the surprise champions of last year’s Euroleague Final Four, which saw their then coach David Blatt go to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Life without Blatt has not been a walk through the park although Maccabi somehow managed to qualify to the Top 16 phase of the Euroleague and fight for a Playoff spot.

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They are currently second placed in Group E behind Real Madrid with five wins and two loses halfway through the campaign. Alba Berlin has been one of the biggest surprises of the season and they have realistic chances of reaching that fourth spot on the table after this huge away win in Israel.

Maccabi had only five players on their roster score in the game, which shows that something wasn’t functioning. Devin Smith, Nate Linhart and Sofoklis Schortsanitis combined for 44 out of the 59 team points. Alba Berlin played great on the defensive end managing to force Maccabi into making 18 turnovers and getting 9 team steals in the process. They also had great team chemistry on the offensive end and a proof of that is the fact that 9 out of 11 players on the roster scored and the team had 15 assists.

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