By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Before the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season 24 contest opposite Zalgiris Kaunas, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv confirmed four additional COVID-19 cases, including two players, the team announced Monday.
The Israeli giant is scheduled to travel to Lithuania later tonight.
The latest COVID-19 tests revealed two players and two members of the coaching staff testing positive for coronavirus. Head coach Giannis Sfairopoulos, and assistants Vassilis Geragotelis and Doron Perkins previously tested positive, as announced Friday and Saturday.
Back in early January, multiple team members had tested positive. Consequently, the Yellows remained idle from January 3 to January 20. Following the break forced by health and safety protocols, the eight-game losing streak in EuroLeague was snapped by a home win versus Olympiacos in Regular Season Round 22. Round 23 saw Maccabi log a second straight win taking down Alba Berlin in Tel Aviv.
After colliding with Zalgiris Tuesday (19:00 CET), Maccabi will complete the double-game week by moving to Germany to take on FC Bayern Munich Thursday (20:30 CET) and hoping to improve on the poor total of two wins through the first ten away games of the 2021-22 Regular Season. With nine wins in the first twenty games overall, the Israeli club sits one game outside the EuroLeague Playoffs Zone.
At the domestic level, Maccabi edged Hapoel U-NET Holon despite missing big man Ante Zizic in Saturday’s Winner League Regular Season Round 16 game. Jumping to 9-6 ranked the team fourth in the standings, one game behind leader Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem.
Photo Credit: EuroLeagueBasketball.net