Starting from next season, William Hill is offering Euroleague basketball betting as Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv looks to defend its crown.

The Israeli side defeated the heavily favoured Spanish giants of Real Madrid 96-88 in the Euroleague Final Four championship game on May 18 in Milan as the two teams drew the curtain on a thrilling Euroleague season with one of the games of the tournament that was settled after a period of overtime.

Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv were led by American Tyrese Rice, who had a game-high 26 points, as he captured the Most Valuable Player award, inspiring the Israelis to their first European trophy since 2005 and sixth overall.

Rice was also instrumental in leading Maccabi to the title game as his game-winning basket with five seconds to go was enough to conquer CSKA Moscow 68-67 in the semi-final, as the Russian side, appearing in their 11th Euroleague Final Four in 12 seasons missed the opportunity to appear in the showcase game as they wait for a first title since 2008.

Real Madrid were victorious in their semi-final, as they turned a much anticipated ‘el Clasico battle with Barcelona into a rout by easing past their rivals 100-62.

The Euroleague is European club basketball’s biggest competition, featuring the top teams from all over Europe including champions Maccabi Electra; Spanish sides Barcelona, Real Madrid and Valencia; Greek giants Olympiacos and Panathinaikos plus several more as 24 teams battle it out for the honour of being called ‘champions of Europe’.

Many of the Euroleague’s top players have played and enjoyed success in the NBA as well. Among those are reigning Euroleague regular season MVP, Sergio Rodriguez and Rudy Fernandez of Real Madrid; Barcelona’s Juan Carlos Navarro and Joey Dorsey; CSKA Moscow’s Sonny Weems and many more.