 VS 
Lietuvos Rytas vs Maccabi Tel Avivpredicted score85 : 79
Game preview Letuvos Rytas hosts perennial powerhouse Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv on Thursday night at the Siemens Arena in Vilnius, Lithuania, for a promising Group B matchup. The two teams are both coming off Week 1 victories. Marijonas Petravicius stepped up with 28 points and 8 rebounds to lead L. Rytas to a 76-83 win at Armani Jeans Milano, while Yotam Halperin recorded 18 points, 9 assists and a crucial steal and assist down the stretch for Maccabi in 74-71 home win over Le Mans. Petravicius's performance gives head coach Alexander Trifunovic reasons for optimism since the team won without standout forward Chuck Eidson, who returned to practice, at least, and could debut this week. Maccabi also figures to be better this week as Will Bynum has returned to action and center Esteban Batista has had more time to practice with his new mates. L. Rytas brings a unique distinction coming into the game – it is one of a very select group of teams to have never lost to Maccabi. These teams played twice two years ago in the Euroleague, with L. Rytas winning both. L. Rytas point guard Hollis Price and backup Darrel Mitchel will have plenty responsibility in this game as they face Maccabi's duo of Bynum, Halperin and Vonteego Cummings. The rest of the Maccabi backcourt, including Derrick Sharp, will match up with the likes of Mindaugas Lukauskas and teenage shooter Martynas Gecevicius. On the forward front, the hosts have a big and deep rotation with Petravicius, Eidson, Arturas Jomantas, Matt Nielsen, Kenan Bajramovic and J.P. Batista. One of them must try to stop All-Euroleague center Nikola Vujcic, not to mention Maccabi's other frontcourt talents: Marcus Fizer, Lior Eliyahu, David Bluthenthal, Terrence Morris and Batista. The effectiveness of Vujcic in the early going could set the tone for Maccabi throughout the game, especially if the yellow-and-blue are unable to run. It will be interesting to see how L. Rytas proposes to put the breaks on Vujcic. At the other end, a healthy Eidson is a live wire and could spell trouble for the visitors as he tries making a statement in his Euroleague debut. If Bluthenthal and Eliyahu struggle, teenager Omri Casspi could get a shot at guarding Eidson. Neither team will be underestimating its opponent this time in a game that promises to deliver exciting early-season action from two serious Group B contenders. Betting overview Sold out Siemens Arena will support Vilnius team today in their 2nd Euroleague debut. Those 10000 fans is a serious factor to consider because Rytas have 24-4 win-loss record at home in European cups. They lost only 4 games to Efes, CSKA, Barcelona and AJ Milano (it was their first game in Euroleague) in 2005/2006 season. Last year they did not lost here any single game in ULEB Cup as well as 2 years ago when to won this trophee. Also Maccabi is not so strong in away matches after Gershon left team. Last year Maccabi won only 3 of 12 away games. Recent Rytas form is quite good comparing to Maccabi which played only 2 official games (both won in the end against Naharia and Lemans). Rytas played 12 official games and have not lost any of them yet. Sure Maccabi will be strongest of those 12 teams but in preparation games Rytas won against Girona, Joventud, draw with Prokom, and nice game against Lithuania NT.. I like Rytas winning mentality and confidence level during a game no matter of result. Rytas have deep bench and should be capable to match up well against Maccabi today. Talking about injuries it is worth to say that Rytas will play without Stelmahers (but they used to play without him) and Eidson is doubtful. Injuries are not so important for this Rytas roster because they have many local players to cover this absences. Maccabi will play with full roster including recovered Bynum but it's a big question about his sporting form. But Maccabi have many new signings in offseason and coach change and they need time to build team chemistry, while Rytas saved team core from last season and is playing on higher level than Maccabi currently. The only problem I see here is that Rytas often doing thrillers at home. They still have up and downs in their game and it's normal for them to let opponents build 10-12 points handicap during a game. But Rytas always find way to win even most difficult games in Siemens Arena. And today they will try to achieve 2nd win in Euroleague and to presend a holiday gift to supporters (it's non-working day in Lithuania so crazy crowd will do their best today). I can't agree with 1.70 on Rytas win. According to my estimations 1.45 would be more fair odds on home win. Maccabi brand looks a bit overpriced here because of their overall results in Euroleague in the last 5 years. So I recommend to take Rytas win or buy spread points at PinnacleSports to have higher odds. I think that pick is worth medium-high stake because here we have home team understimation which is in better conditions. Pick: Lietuvos Rytas to win @ 1.685 6/10 PinnacleSports
P.S. I see no value in other matches today because bookies did their work perfect this week so this is the only picks for today. I have one lean for Olimpija - Olympiacos match where I like over 155.5 but over/under already was moved to 158.5 and it is only 0.5 points under the fair line of 159 points. If your local bookie have total under 157 it is worth a shot. Currently you can take over 156.5 at Expekt but I doubt how long this line will stay on this level.
New articles on this topic:
Older articles on this topic: |
Free Picks 
