With a big wind at their back, momentum is on Israel's side as they attempt to win three straight games for the first time since 1985.

Portugal are trying to gain experience with every game and keep playing tough, never giving up whatever the score is. 

Does that sound familiar?

		Portugal need someone to step up and that someone could be Elvis Evora.

Israel, a tough fighting group themselves, will face a team who will match their intensity.

Last Time Out: Israel continued their "kill bill" trip against the former Yugoslavia countries with a big 80-75 win over Croatia. Portugal lost 65-78 to favorites Russia.

Head-to-Head: In the last two Qualifying games for EuroBasket 2005 and 2007 Portugal humiliated Israel, and cost them the direct ticket to the games. In 2004 they scored a big 101-96 win in Israel after an overtime. They lost the second leg but that game had no real meaning by then. Last summer, Portugal once again beat Israel on the road, 67-61, but then shocked with a 69-49 win that gave them the ticket to EuroBasket and sent Israel to the AQT.

Key Match-up: Tough nut here, as nobody in Portugal is a specific player you wish to stop. Not even a single guy averages double-digits in points, but then you have no less than six players who are scoring 7.5 – 9.5 points per game. Same goes in the rebounds department where nobody posts big numbers, but five players average between 3.1 – 5.1 rebounds per game. Portugal would like to stop center Yaniv Green, who has been dominating the last two games Israel won, while the blue-and-whites might want to focus on Francisco Jordao, a forward that can score both on the inside and outside.

Statistics: Both teams had different success depending on their shootings. Israel lost the first two games when they couldn't score more than 66 points, but won the last two when it scored 80 and 87 points. In their losses Portugal didn't pass the 68 points barrier, but when they beat Latvia, they managed to score 77.

X-Factor: It's all about character in this game. Israel is coming in with big momentum after beating two teams as the underdog. Now they will be considered the favorites, and it's going to be a totally different mind set for them. The need to revenge the aching losses in the qualifying rounds in the past years might help Israel here. Portugal needs to make it clear whether they are in this round to enjoy the moment or actually try to win some basketball games.

What It Means: If Croatia loses to Russia and Greece then a win here will be enough for Israel to make it to the quarter-finals. Portugal will be out of the race in case of a loss to Israel.