Game one of the Hapoel Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem Israel basketball league’s best-of-five semifinal series at Yad Eliyahu came to a screeching halt when missiles from Iran began to rain down on the Holy Land as the matchup headed into the decisive final frame of play.

Following a back-and-forth and end-to-end action first three quarters between the two squads which saw the hosts Hapoel Tel Aviv head into the fourth quarter holding a ten-point, 77-67 lead, league officials, referees, along with Home Front Command personnel and the Israeli police came together at the officials table at center court to discuss the situation that was unfolding in the north of country as Iran launched a salvo of missiles.

After a few minutes, it was decided by the various parties that the 6,000 or so fans in attendance would leave the premises in an orderly fashion while the players would go down to the lockerrooms and wait until it was deemed safe to continue the last period of play.

However, after the spectators had departed, the Hapoel Tel Aviv players went back up to the arena floor, but the Hapoel Jerusalem players did not want to continue to play the game due to the unfolding situation and refused to ascend to the court. At that point, it was determined that the game be abandoned with the recommendation that Hapoel Tel Aviv would be issued a technical victory, although the Israel Basketball Association court would still need to levy the final ruling on the situation.

Game two of the series is scheduled to be played at the Jerusalem Arena on Tuesday night.

As for game one of the Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Holon semifinals, it is to take place at Yad Eliyahu on Monday night without fans in attendance.

Israel Basketball League CEO David Basan spoke about the situation at hand, “Most likely, the result of this game will stand. As I told the teams here on the court and I’m also saying this to the people at Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Holon as well as the teams in the relegation playoffs and this entire ecosystem, take a deep breath and don’t make hasty decisions. We must reach the end of the league season and not repeat what happened last year.

“As of now, there is currently no plan to move the playoffs from Israel and go to another country. We hope this will be a short-term situation and that it will be possible to play as soon as tomorrow. If that means playing without fans, then without fans. We will continue to assess the situation as time goes on.”

Jerusalem Head Coach Yonatan Alon commented on the events, “This is not a situation to play in. Our players cannot focus on basketball and I also can’t see myself drawing up a play right now. Credit to everyone trying to keep this league alive, sometimes perhaps trying a little too hard, but at the moment, from our perspective, it is not possible to resume the game.”

The Capital City squad’s bench boss continued, “I respect Hapoel Tel Aviv but I can only speak about our situation. It was not easy to bring the players back here to Israel and we promised them that whatever happened, we would stand behind them. We will not return to play tonight. We asked them how they felt about the game and they said they could not see themselves focusing on basketball. We understand them. We all wanted to get back to playing, but we understand the circumstances. This isn’t a situation where someone tells you, ‘Listen, I’m scared, I’m thinking about my family,’ and you can simply respond, ‘Okay, okay, get out there and play.’ That’s not how I treat people.

“Of course there is concern that foreign players may leave. The fact that there is still a league and that we reached the point of having a playoff is a miracle. It’s a miracle thanks to many good people in the league and the clubs who did everything possible to make it possible to play. To say that it’s normal or routine? It’s not. But there are many good people in this sport who don’t get enough credit. Every team has people who pushed, tried, and never stopped working to make things happen. But sometimes the situation is simply too difficult. There is no rulebook for how to behave in times like these.”

Jerusalem owner Matan Adelson also addressed the suspension of the game, “The moment the Home Front Command issued its announcement, the team went back to the locker rooms and the players did not feel comfortable continuing the game. Many of them do not feel they can focus on basketball, and we stand with our players. It’s unfortunate that this is the situation right now. We want peace, and this is an uncomfortable situation. We all want to continue playing, but the circumstances do not allow it.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv Head Coach **Dimitris Itoudis shared his feelings about the situation, “Like everyone else, I’m calling my loved ones. I don’t understand the situation right now, we were told that the game could continue, and then we were told that Jerusalem was getting dressed to leave. I don’t know what’s happening. That’s the information I have at the moment, and we are expecting sirens soon. This goes beyond basketball. We need to understand that everyone’s safety is the most important thing, just as the league recognized when it sent the fans away. Now we need to bring this game to a close and see what happens in the future.”

The Greek coach concluded by expressing his professional disappointment over the game not being completed, “We want to finish the game tonight—that’s why we’re here. We’re playing well, we had momentum, and everyone could see that we were playing well in this game. We had a 10-point lead in the previous quarter. But, as I said, this goes beyond basketball. I understand the league’s desire to resume the game, and I don’t blame Hapoel Jerusalem for not returning to the court. I have a great deal of respect for them.

“The referees told us that, at the moment, it is considered a technical victory for us. We don’t want that as we want to win on the court, but we understand the situation. I hope the situation does not escalate. If it does, I don’t know what will happen. There are discussions among the players about leaving immediately, at least until things calm down. They are afraid that the airspace could be closed, which would make things much more complicated. We have no information at the moment that this is about to happen, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow morning. For now, we’re not going anywhere, but I don’t want to go through what I experienced in the previous two instances.”

As for the game itself, Hapoel Tel Aviv came out of the gate red hot as Ish Wainright went from deep as Yam Madar and Tomer Ginat scored as well while Jared Harper, Khadeen Carrington and Austin Wiley responded for Hapoel Jerusalem but the hosts led 13-8 midway through the first quarter. Madar kept filling the basket, Vasilije Micic also found points while at the other end, Isaiah Mobley put in an easy deuce under the hoop while Harper went from way downtown but Dimitrios Itoudis’s team grabbed a 25-22 lead after ten minutes of play.

Roi Huber began the second quarter from downtown, Chris Jones answered at the other end with pair of triples while Oz Blayzer also went from beyond the arc as the game picked up pace, Micic scored as Xavier Sneed and Carrington did the same at the other end to keep the game close with Tel Aviv ahead 38-35 with just over five minutes minutes remaining in the first half. Motley and Micic both scored while Carrington and Sneed answered right back, Madar and Micic put in points while Eitan Burg put in a pair of buckets as he found his first points for Yonatan Alon’s team since returning to Israel but the hosts stayed in front 52-47 at halftime.

Itay Segev dunked to get the second half underway but Sneed came with two triples, Madar put in a 3-point play, Justin Smith filled the bucket, Wainright and Micic both went from deep and Segev jammed to keep Tel Aviv ahead 67-62 midway through the third quarter. Tomer Ginat and Sneed traded baskets, Motley went from downtown, put in a layup and then added another 3-pointer for a quick 8-0 run as the hosts extended their advantage to 77-67 after thirty minutes of action.