Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Hapoel Holon 107-93 to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five semifinal series as Tamir Blatt and Iffe Lundberg hit their shots from deep while Roman Sorkin and Jaylen Hoard ruled on the inside as the yellow-and-blue chalked up the win. However, the real story behind the game was playing it behind closed doors with no fans in stands due to the Iranian missile attacks over the past 24 hours.

Usually before a Maccabi Tel Aviv game at Yad Eliyahu, there are dozens of fans who wait at the players entrance to try and catch a glimpse of their heroes or maybe even take a selfie, but on this night there were no more than only a few. This was due to the Home Front Command restrictions of not having an fans in attendance for the start of the yellow-and-blue’s semifinal series against Hapoel Holon. A normally very active and alive facility on gameday was nothing near that as the players walked in to prepare for battle in what would be an empty arena.

Adama Sanogo and Netanel Artzi got busy early for Holon, Roman Sorkin and Iffe Lundberg responded for Maccabi while Tamir Blatt and John Dibartolomeo both went from deep as did Lundberg to give the hosts a 30-23 lead after ten minutes of play.

As the players stepped onto the floor for the pregame warmup, every single sneaker squeak, every single cough and every single word could be heard on the court with no one in the stands as the over 10,000 fans that had been expected were forced to watch the game from their homes on this night. Instead, the players on the bench were the ones who cheered their teammates on and made noise where there was none in order to get the best out of one another on this eerie night.

Blatt and Dibartolmeo continued to fill the basket as the second quarter got underway while at the other end Darin Green Jr., J’Von McCormick and Arzti tried to keep the purples close, a red-hot Blatt along with Zach Hankins and Jaylen Hoard added points but Green drilled home a trio of triples to keep Predrag Runic’s team hanging around but down 60-53 at halftime to Oded Katash’s squad.

As the game hit the midpoint, normally the Yad Eliyahu hallways would be packed with fans looking for a bite to eat, shopping in the team store or just mingling with one another but that would be far from the case on this evening as the aisles were empty and there were no lines with no fans in sight. If quiet would continue throughout the land and no more missiles would be launched from Iran, this reality would change back to what used to be normal.

Kevion Taylor drained a pair from deep to begin the third quarter, Lundberg answered right back and Sorkin also scored from downtown, Hoard and Hankins both found points, Sanogo did the same including a massive dunkaroo as Dibartolomeo and McCormick traded baskets to keep the visitors still within striking range, however, still in the hole 79-72 after thirty minutes of action.

You could hear the coaches cheering, screaming and encouraging on the sidelines loud and clear as every clang off of the rim or swish through the basket could be heard with authority. The referees checking the monitors and the off court officials could be heard discussing a challenge or play while the zebras whistles were as piecing as ever, but no matter, the players on both sides continued to play hard and pound away at either end of the court.

Taylor opened up the final frame with a deuce, Lundberg and Will Rayman both dialed up from long distance, McCormick came back with points, Blatt went from way downtown, Taylor and Lior Carreira went from deep to keep the purples hanging around but Hoard put down a pair of dunks to help Maccabi hit the 100 point mark and close out the game one win.

Sorkin and Lundberg each scored 21 points while Blatt added 20 points in the victory while Green scored 21 points as both Sanogo and Taylor each scored 19 points in the defeat.

After the game, Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Oded Katash spoke about the victory and the situation around the game, “I think we didn’t come into the game well due to what went on and I wasn’t sure as to what to expect. We tried to convince some players to play right until the last minute. We played for home court advantage all season and we didn’t have the fans in this game. It was tough to manage the rotation but as a coach I am so proud of the players and the guys that played I have a lot of respect for him.”

Holon Head Coach Predrag Runic shared his thoughts, “This was a tough game and Maccabi deserved the win. We knew that we were playing a strong team and we had to play defense and against a strong Euroleague team that cost us the game. We tried to focus on basketball and I am really proud of the players despite the situation and we practiced really well this morning. I like the basketball and the atmosphere which we didn’t have here now, but that’s why I will be staying on as coach.”

Iffe Lundberg discussed the situation and addressed the Winner League administration, “It felt okay and it’s nice to win, it was a hard day for everyone but overall I am happy that we won. The 24 hours were tough. This is a message to the Winner League Administration, I really think that today was handled very, very poorly. I think it was very unprofessional and disrespectful to every player who played to be honest. I understand that they’re an entity and their interest is branding their product of Israeli basketball. But at the end of the day, we’re human beings and I understand that we have to remain professional and we have to go out there and do our job which we did toady, but that doesn’t neglect the fact that the last 24 hours have been really tough on everyone. They need to do better.”