Hapoel Tel Aviv pulled off a massive victory on the road against Barcelona, while Maccabi Tel Aviv suffered a painful loss on the road to Milano in the EuroLeague.
Hapoel Tel Aviv had over two weeks to prepare for this game as their games against Paris and Maccabi Tel Aviv in the EuroLeague were canceled and rescheduled along with activity in the Israeli Premier League due to the current political situation. However, the extra rest could not make up for the fact that they had to take on Barcelona, who was eager to bounce back after three straight losses in the EuroLeague to Paris, Virtus and Milano, along with an early elimination in the Copa del Rey.
The health situation was less than ideal for both sides, with Tornike Shengelia being ruled out for Barcelona just before the start of the game, along with Nicolas Laprovittola and Juan Nunez being unable to play. Meanwhile, Dimitris Itoudis had to deal with the major absence of Jonathan Motley, who rolled his ankle in practice before the game, which was played in front of no fans in the Palau Blaugrana. However, he could count on the debut of new signing Levi Randolph to make up for that absence somewhat.
Dan Oturu had an extra workload on his back due to the injuries to his frontcourt teammates and he took advantage, scoring 11 points in the first quarter. Barcelona distributed their scoring well and rode the hot hand of Will Clyburn to take a 26-19 lead early. The Israeli side answered with a 10-0 run points with great playmaking from Vasilije Micic and Elijah Bryant, while nobody else could follow Clyburn’s form as he had 12 points and six rebounds in the first period. However, Hapoel Tel Aviv took over the control of the game and had a 46-38 lead entering the half-time break, shooting an incredible 80% from inside the arc while only making one three.
A pair of threes by Bryant made it 54-47 in second, with him and Oturu increasing the lead to ten. Clyburn cooled off in the third quarter but Tomas Satoransky and Kevin Punter came alive at the end of the third to make it 66-61 for Hapoel Tel Aviv at the end of the third. In the end, the x-factor was Antonio Blakeney, who scored all of his points in the fourth quarter to give his side a double digit lead and put the game out of reach as Barcelona suffered their fourth straight defeat, losing 80-75 in what can clearly be classified as a crisis for the Catalan club, whose record fell to 17-14.
For Hapoel Tel Aviv, Dan Oturu produced 22 points while Elijah Bryant had another all-around performance with 19 points, six rebounds and four assists. For Xavi Pascual’s team, Will Clyburn and Kevin Punter both had 15 points, while Tomas Satoransky scored 11, but it was futile. Hapoel Tel Aviv improved their record to 18-11 and will take on Paris on March 17th in their rescheduled contest for their next game, while Barcelona will have to travel on the road and face their Liga Endesa rival Valencia two days later.
Another road victory for @HapoelTLVBC! ✅#EveryGameMatters pic.twitter.com/k8oha8uz4W
— EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) March 13, 2026
Claim Now The other Israeli representative also competed in action tonight as Maccabi Tel Aviv took on Milano on the road in a game that essentially had play-in stakes, with Milano being at an even 15-15 mark before this game and Oded Kattash’s side having one win less. The “Pride of Israel” suffered a big blow heading into the game as star forward Jaylen Hoard was ruled out for the game, along with the absent Iffe Lundberg. For Milano, Lorenzo Brown, Ousmane Diop, Bryant Dunston and Diego Flaccadori were absent but Quinn Ellis and Nico Mannion were given the green light to play.
It was expected to be a high-scoring game and it was exactly as predicted with Maccabi Tel Aviv taking a 26-25 lead at the end of the first quarter. Early on, forward Gur Lavi was an unexpected spark off the bench for Maccabi Tel Aviv with 13 points in the first half, while the rest of the team struggled to get much going.
Tamir Blatt had five assists and five turnovers in the half, Lonnie Walker was forcing up bad shots and the Israeli club could not get running in transition as Milano controlled the pace of the game, moving the ball well and getting good isolations with situations for open shots, leading to a very balanced distribution of points among all their starters. Leandro Bolmaro had nine points in the second quarter and Milano went on a 17-8 run to end the half with a 51-41 lead despite losing the rebounding battle 22-13. There was also an important milestone reached as guard Marko Guduric surpassed 3,000 points in the EuroLeague.
3k points reached in style 🔥
— EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) March 13, 2026
Congratulations Marko! @OlimpiaMI1936 pic.twitter.com/l3KHGq7Nux
In the second half, Milano built a 15 point lead through the interior domination of Zach LeDay and Josh Nebo, but Maccabi Tel Aviv answered with a faster pace and more baskets in transition from Walker to cut the lead to six, and keep it a respectable 74-67 deficit entering the fourth. It became a choppy and very physical game in the fourth, and a Zach Hankins layup made it 86-80.
However, Shavon Shields showed up to show his true class by hitting two long threes to make it a double digit game, and after controlling the free throw exchange at the end, Peppe Poeta could breathe a sigh of relief as his team now has a positive record in the EuroLeague. Meanwhile, this loss practically ended almost any chance Maccabi Tel Aviv had of trying to get to the play-in.
Shavon threesssssss
— Olimpia Milano (@OlimpiaMI1936) March 13, 2026
Olimpia 92 Maccabi 82
2:19 left in the game pic.twitter.com/tKdRsix2i7
Josh Nebo had a double-double with 19 points and ten rebounds, and four more players were in double figures for Milano, including Marko Guduric who had 11 points and eight assists while Shavon Shields finished with 17. Lonnie Walker led his team in scoring with 16 points but shot an atrocious 4-16 from the field, while O’Shae Brissett had a double-double of his own with 10 points and 12 rebounds but the hole was too big to climb out of for Oded Kattash and his team, who will take on Asvel on the road on March 20th, while Milano will face reigning champions Fenerbahce on the road on the same date.
Crucial W for @OlimpiaMI1936! ✅#EveryGameMatters pic.twitter.com/HtYVnEsLqR
— EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) March 13, 2026
