Quarter-Finals Game 2 preview: Jerusalem eyeing first Semi-Final

ATHENS (Greece) - The Quarter-Finals matchup between AEK and Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem enters Game 2 of their best-of-three series with AEK looking to defend home court to stay alive for a Game 3, and Jerusalem going for the sweep to get to their first ever Final 4 in the Basketball Champions League.

The game will tip off on Wednesday April 12 at 16:30 CET.

This will be the sixth game between these two clubs in the Basketball Champions League and in the previous five meetings, the two sides have alternated wins (October 2018 - Jerusalem, December 2018 - AEK, October 2019 - Jerusalem, December 2019 - AEK, April 2023 - Jerusalem).

In Game 1, AEK trailed by as many as 22 points (28-6) in the first quarter, but they were able to put together a strong comeback attempt and get to within a single point on multiple occasions, but Jerusalem never let them take the lead and closed the game on an 8-2 run to put it out of reach. 

AEK and Jerusalem are two of the five teams with the best defensive rating in the BCL this season; the Greek club are conceding 104.7 points per 100 possessions (fifth best), while Jerusalem has the best defensive rating in the league, conceding 101.4 points per 100 possessions.

AEK, who lost their most recent home game in the BCL (75-65 to Unicaja), have lost consecutive home games only once, back in October 2017. AEK won their last two home games against a team from Israel, including a 13-point win over Jerusalem in December 2019 (91-78).

AEK's Kenny Williams recorded 18 points and 5 rebounds in Game 1 against Jerusalem, a personal best in both stat categories in any of his 14 appearances in the BCL; he has made more three-pointers than two-pointers in each of his last seven games in the competition.

Jerusalem (6-0) are one of the two teams to have won all of their away games in the BCL this season, alongside Telekom Baskets Bonn, but they have never won seven away games in a row in the competition (also 6-0 in October 2018-March 2019); they have conceded fewer than 70 points in each of their last four away games.

Jerusalem's Khadeen Carrington is averaging 16.3 points per game on the road in the BCL in 2023, nine points per game higher than when playing at home since the beginning of the year (7.3); he has scored more than 10 points in each of his last 10 away games in the competition. [/unordered]