Real's trip to Belgrade was meant to be easy. It wasn't. Los Blancos won 67-73 after a back-and-forth battle until the end. The visitors had an eight points lead, at 46-54, but Zvezda whittled it down and went ahead 65-64 with 4 minutes left. At that point, Thompkins with back-to-back three-pointers gave an advantage to Real. The hosts didn't respond and went almost 4 minutes without scoring to settle the matter in the visitors' favor.

At home Real needs to continue their winning streak, as they are left behind in the standings. They are facing a team strong in defense and in the paint. Controlling the rebounds and the paint, in general, will give Real a huge advantage. Walter Tavares, Trey Thompkins and Usman Garuba part in tonight's game will be extremely critical. 

Maccabi Tel Aviv dominated Zalgiris Kaunas 85-57 at home last week. They were far better at both ends over the Lithuanian champions and get a well-deserved win. Ioannis Sfairopoulos troops managed a 20-0 run between the first and second periods. This run came mostly from Maccabi's reserves and that's the most comforting for the home side. And in order to remain in the winning mode, they need all the help they can get. 

Especially tonight they will need their shooters to be quite sharp. Every time Maccabi shoots with 41.0% from downtown in the games they get the win, but when their average in three-pointing is less than 34.0% they lose. So it goes without saying that a lot of pressure will be on Maccabi's guard at WiZink Center tonight.

The overall record in Euroleague since 2000, is Real Madrid v Maccabi Tel Aviv 17-10.

Let's take a look at main and special odds markets offered at bet365 website :

• FullTime Result : 1.35 (Real Madrid) - 3.30 (Maccabi Tel Aviv)
• Over/Under 162.5 points : 1.90 (Over) - 1.90 (Under)
• Race to 20 points: 1.52(Real Madrid) - 2.40 (Maccabi Tel Aviv)

*bet365 odds as offered at  18/11, 15:00CET (subject to change without prior notice) | 18+, T&Cs Apply, BeGambleAware.org

The one that will control the paint will be the one that will gain a major advantage to win tonight's clash. For the hosts, Walter Tavares has an average of 10.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.0 block per game. And dominates for Real Madrid in both ends. On the other side, we see Ante Zizic.  The Croatian center provides 11.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game for his team and plays a key role for Maccabi, especially in the offense. A great battle is predicted and we surely are extremely happy to watch it.