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The Nets game against the Israeli professional team Maccabi Ra’anana was scheduled long ago, and the players from Israel had no idea they would be in New York when their country was attacked by Hamas on Saturday.

Jonathan Mor was at dinner when he first heard about the bloodshed.

“We got messages about bombs and missiles,’’ Mor said prior to the Nets’ 135-103 win at Barclays Center on Thursday night. “It was unbelievable. Everyone got on their phones and saw the videos. It was like something out of a horror movie. A bloodbath.”

The 28-year-old Mor, who lives in Tel Aviv and arrived in New York with his teammates last Wednesday, immediately contacted his parents and fiancée and understood his two brothers would be called immediately by the Israeli army.

They have since joined the fight.

“It’s heart-wrenching,’’ Mor said. “We didn’t sleep for 30 hours. I want to be there to help, but I’m here.”

As a professional athlete, Mor said he has no combat training, so he would not be involved in the war, but he still would like to be able to volunteer at hospitals or to assist those that have been evacuated.


  Jonathon Mor shoots a jumper during the Nets’ 135-103 the Israeli professional 
  

  team Maccabi Ra’anana at Barclays Center. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con Jonathon Mor shoots a jumper during the Nets’ 135-103 the Israeli professional team Maccabi Ra’anana at Barclays Center. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con

Instead, he played the first of his team’s three-game tour against NBA teams, with games coming up in Cleveland and Minnesota before, Mor hopes, he and his teammates can return home.

“I’m not gonna lie: Basketball feels kind of secondary right now,’’ Mor said. “The scenes and pictures [from there] make you worry about friends and family, and I felt I was here without any purpose. I didn’t think basketball had any role, but if I can use it to explain what our people are feeling, maybe that can help to let everyone know the impact this has had on our people. This is what we’ve done for our entire history as a country.”

There was an expectation that there could be protests from both pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian groups outside the arena Thursday, and added security was in place.

A raucous crowd filled with fans carrying Israeli flags celebrated throughout the game.

“[Hearing] the cheers was inspiring,’’ Spencer Dinwiddie of the Nets said. “A heavy moment.”

Nic Claxton said Wednesday he didn’t believe the game should be played since “there [are] bigger things going on in the world than basketball.”

But Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn said his team followed the lead of Maccabi Ra’anana.

One player left to return home, according to Daniel Hazan — an Israeli-American player agent who helped organize the game — because they “want to be with their families who are bunkered down.’’

Follow along with The Post’s coverage of Israel’s war with Hamas

But both Mor and the team’s head coach, Yehu Orland, said people in Israel wanted them to continue.

“People at home said it was important we play so the whole world will know nothing will break us,’’ Orland said. “That there are terrible things [happening], and we still have hope. Our young people need to know there’s hope.”

That didn’t mean it would be easy.


  Israeli soldiers on a tank are seen near the Israel-Gaza border ZUMAPRESS.com Israeli soldiers on a tank are seen near the Israel-Gaza border ZUMAPRESS.com

“This is the profession we chose, so we will play hard [Thursday],’’ Orland said. “Our bodies are here, but our state of mind is in Israel. We don’t think of anything but our country and people.”

And like many Israelis, Orland has lost someone close to him in the war: one of his best friends, Eli Ginsburg, was a recently retired Israeli soldier who went to war. His funeral was Thursday.


  The Maccabi Ra’anana team before a 2022 game against the Blazers. NBAE via Getty Images The Maccabi Ra’anana team before a 2022 game against the Blazers. NBAE via Getty Images

“I could not be there because we are here,” Orland said. “For sure, I’m sad, and I’m sitting here trying not to cry because my heart is broken. But we have to have hope for the young people that Israel is strong.”

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