As odd as it sounds it’s very tough to actually wrote about one of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s biggest wins this season after they manhandled Barcelona 104-80 in Spain. This should be the happy recap, the one that talks all about how the Yellow & Blue are peaking just at the right time and that they are in tip-top shape as they haven regular season game left and are raring to go as the playoffs are about to get underway.

However, after a deadly terrorist attack on one of Tel Aviv’s main thoroughfares and busiest street in Dizengoff, the players, staff and everyone around the sport are focusing on one thing; the welfare of those who were injured and our sympathy to the families who lost loved ones in a yet another terrorist attack that has left more dead.

Following the game, head coach Avi even opened his press conference with words about the attacks while James Nunnally spoke on TV about it as well. Iftach Ziv and Roman Sorkin who played central parts in the victory also talked about the attacks that looks to have left two people dead and another 7 injured and in the hospital.

“The news about the attacks at home are very unpleasant,” Iftach Ziv began. “We want to send all of our love and support to the victims of the terrorist attack and that were in the area at that time. I personally had a lot of friends who were in the vicinity and we have been trying to contact everyone on our phones to make sure everyone is ok.”

“I know that we won here but the joy has been hampered due to the situation. The moment that I am going to take from the game is when we were standing on the court with the Israeli flag and we heard the terrible news, that even more so than the big win.”

Roman Sorkin also spoke about the attacks and the moment depicted in the cover photo of this piece, “That is for sure going to the be the moment that we will always remember from this game. This was a huge win but it’s sad to say that we are not even happy after we had heard the news from Israel. We just want to send our support to everyone. It’s just very sad and we are all hoping for better times to come.”

“These are tough moments for me, for my team, for the organization and for my country as we had another terror attack that hit Tel Aviv and hit our country. This is tough, tough, tough for me to talk about the game,” Avi Even said immediately following the game.

One couldn’t miss the weight siting on Even’s shoulders. He was weighed down from the awful news and couldn’t even react to his team’s unbelievable showing which shouldn’t be ignored.

On an evening that Maccabi went 16/27 from deep, the Yellow & Blue scored and scored and scored without any issues whatsoever. It didn’t matter who took the shots from downtown, they just kept going in as 8 different players scored form beyond the arc.

“We played against a very good team,” Even noted. “I am happy we managed to do a good job most of the time defensively and we translated that to offense. We shared the ball well and scored in high percentages that helped us take the advantage over Barcelona.”

Barcelona wasn’t playing with its best lineup as Saras rested a number of senior players plus rotated in a number of Barcelona’s future stars in James Nnaji, Michael Caicedo, Sergi Martinez and Gael Bonilla not to mention Rokas Jokoubaitis who all received significant minutes as the Classico against Real Madrid awaits on Sunday.

That’s not to say that Maccabi was gifted the victory, that was certainly not the case but they also didn’t play the same Barcelona that will feature in the playoffs. Win or lose, Maccabi wanted to continue their fine play of late and that is exactly what they did; the Yellow & Blue are the hottest team right now in the Euroleague.

“We played a good first half and wanted to come out with the same energy in the second half,” Scottie Wilbekin explained. “ We are continuing what we have been building over the last few games. It’s a good time to be playing well, we got one more game until the playoffs and we want to keep getting better.”

Avi Even agreed with Wilbekin’s assessment, “One of things we are trying to build in the team is a winning mentality and I am happy that we have been able to win some games at the end of the regular season. I hope the confidence that we are building will help in the playoff games.”

One thing that Maccabi has to be very aware of is that the playoffs will be an entirely different animal than the regular season so the Yellow & Blue will need to put aside all of the wins that they had over the likes of Real Madrid, Olympiacos and Milano. The regular season is one thing but the playoffs is a totally new story that will be written where the defenses will be tougher, the offenses will be challenged and the mental fortitude of all of the principles involved will be tested.

Maccabi won’t be able to play the wheeling, dealing and reeling type of basketball that they have been able to over the past month and change. They won’t be able to get to the hoop or have the freedom to shoot uncontested as they have been for the most part. There will be plenty of hands in faces, pulling, yanking, shoving and just good old rough and tumble basketball on the display.

Can Maccabi handle that style of game? That remains to be seen, but with Maccabi throttling on all cylinders right now, they will hope that this is the Yellow & Blue that all be able to dispose of their postseason foes in relative ease.

However, right now the stark reality of the situation is not on the basketball court but in the hospital where some of the victims have their lives hanging in the balance while a number of others have had theirs snuffed out by a terrorist attack that has created chaos all over Tel Aviv and the region.