 VS  Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv v AXA FC Barcelona
Longtime foes Maccabi Elite and AXA FC Barcelona will battle for the last remaining ticket to the 2008 Final Four on Thursday at Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv in Game 3 of their Quarterfinal Playoffs series. The teams have met 24 times since 1981, including twice in the Final Four, but only one game matters now. The series has been a fascinating one so far. A Terence Morris double-double paced Maccabi to an 81-75 Game 1 victory, but Barcelona tied the series two days later as Gianluca Basile blasted a career-high 34 points in an 83-74 win. The Israeli champs have succeeded in their main defensive mission thus far, limiting Barca’s top scorer, Jaka Lakovic, to a total of 6 points on 1-for-6 two-point and 0-for-8 three-point shooting, however Basile has risen to the occasion with two incredible games. The veteran shooting guard has hit 11 triples in the series and was named as last week’s Euroleague Basketball weekly MVP for his two-game performance. Maccabi head coach Zvika Sherf, who was on the sidelines when Barcelona whipped Maccabi 101-67 in the 1991 Final Four semifinal in Paris, will have to cook up a new game plan to limit Lakovic while containing Basile.
Betting overviewBoth games were not so offensive as final score shows. First game in Israel was only 143 points game with 28 seconds left to play in 4th quarter but foul tactics helped teams to score 13 points in 20 seconds. In Barcelona home team managed to close Maccabi offense again under 75 points but this time spaniards offense was a one-man show. Basile is not a Lebron James type player and you never know what to expect from him 2 points or 14 points. But it worth to note that all other players were limited in offense. As for today's 3rd game I think we should expect a defensive battle and low tempo game because Barcelona will kill theirself if allow Maccabi to run at least for few minutes. Both team have good defenses and today defense will be very important for each team. After 2 games these teams had 8 quarters and if we would sum that 49-point quarter when team showed their 3-point shooting skills in game in all others quarters teams scored in average 37.5 pts per quarter what result into 150 pts game. I think that today we will see something similar to Game 1 but this time Barcelona should looks better because they travelled to Tel Aviv 3 days before a game and should be rested and prepared for this game of the year for them. Prediction: This is gonna be very close low-tempo game with many lead changes until the end where one scoring run will decide an outcome. Barcelona needs Lakovic to step in to win this game but I have feeling that hot public support will help Maccabi to reach first Final Four in their new era under Zvi Sherf. My prediction is Maccabi to win by 5-6 points. Predicted score: Maccabi 74 - 68 BarcelonaPick: Under 154.5 @ 1.90 3/10 Bet365.com
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