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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.