In an interview on the Israeli Basketball Association’s website, Israeli player Dor Saar said before the game: "It’s known that they are quite anti-semitic and it’s no secret, and maybe that’s why a strong game is expected.
“We have to show that we’re better than them and win. We talk about it among ourselves. We know they don’t love us and we will leave everything on the field always and in this game especially.”
Basketball Ireland’s statement prior to the start of the game read: "Basketball Ireland informed Fiba Europe yesterday that as a direct result of recent comments made by Israeli players and coaching staff - including inflammatory and wholly inaccurate accusations of anti-Semitism, published on official Israeli Federation channels - that our players will not be partaking in traditional pre-match arrangements with our upcoming opponents.
That may be more right than you think since Putin had long had a stance of ‘get the fuck out of my country if you don’t like me’ and Israel was and important destination for those who complied.
About 15% of Israel citizens seem to be russian speaking, because of emigration from the USSR and later Russia, see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russians_in_Israel