The story so far: This is the first leg of the Qualification Round 2 tie that will decide which of the two teams will clinch the remaining spot in Regular Season Group A. Nahariya were drawn in QR2 while Tsmoki Minsk had to overcome Rilski Sportist in QR1 to get here.

TSMOKI MINSK vs. IRONI NAHARIYA – Tuesday at 18:00 CEST

MINSK (Basketball Champions League) – Minsk’s relatively slim 10-point margin of victory over Rilski might give the wrong impression that the Belarus champions suffered some sort of drop when compared to the first leg of that tie, in Bulgaria, which they had won by 14 points.

The truth however is that although Minsk did not set the world on fire with their display in Qualification Round 1, they must be very pleased with what they showed as a team. Minsk showed admirable depth and used an 11-man rotation, with 10 of those payers staying on the floor for at least 10 minutes per game.

Their defence was rock-solid and they held Rilski to an average output of only 61 points over the two games. On offence, Minsk are arguably the most altruistic team of the qualification stage so far, as no less than eight of their players average at least 7.5 points per contest and they dish out a collective 15 assists per night.

Nahariya’s official-game sample on the other hand has not been positive, albeit it consists of only one game. Nahariya faced Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli Winner Cup semi-finals at the weekend and succumbed to a heavy 96-66 defeat, despite a 16-point showing by Gilbert Brown, who shot 6-of-9 from the floor.