Timberwolves, Maccabi Ra'anana faceoff during unique preseason … – FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul

A pro basketball team from Israel faced off against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night for a preseason NBA game despite the ongoing conflict.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – At first glance, warm-ups for Tuesday night's Minnesota Timberwolves preseason game at Target Center looked pretty routine.
But take a closer look at the players for Maccabi Ra'anana and you'll see there is nothing normal about the circumstances they are playing under. 
The professional Israeli basketball team touched down in the U.S. on Oct. 4, for a series of exhibition games. Three days later, all hell broke loose back home.
"Obviously, the situation in Israel is not good. Desperation and sadness… those are the feelings that all the people in Israel feel right now. For us, as a as a team, as a club, it's hard to be here. Our heart and our minds is in Israel," said head coach Yehu Orland. 
Orland has felt the devastation personally. His childhood best friend was killed in an attack by Hamas on Oct. 8. 
"He got shot and he got killed. He left behind a wife and four kids. He was my friend for ever since he was born," said Orland.
Both sides of the court are feeling the impact of the war. 
"It's shocking and heartbreaking in its scale. Unfortunately, there's probably more to come. I think that's the hard part as a human to know what's coming… the idea of war is to unfortunately to break things and kill people, but the idea of humanity should be to stop it at all costs," said Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch.
Orland says despite what's happening in the Middle East, his team was committed to playing their planned games, hopefully serving as an inspiration for those at home.
"They need help. And for us playing over here… maybe it's a one step forward to hope that we can give them. We are showing that Israel is a strong country and although [we suffered] ten days ago, we're going to continue to live and we're going to continue to represent Israel," said Orland.
Tuesday night's game was the last for Maccabi Ra'anana in the States. They head back to Israel on Tuesday night.
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