By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Anadolu Efes stretched its advantage in the best-of-five series versus Real Madrid to 2-0 securing the 91-68 victory at Sinan Erden Dome on Thursday. The Turkish team needs one more win to punch in the Final Four ticket of the quarterfinals series.
Vasilije Micic went for a game-high 23 points off 4/5 twos and 5/5 threes, alongside four rebounds, and three assists. Shane Larkin had 21 points banking 6/12 field goals, including 3/5 triples. Rodrigue Beaubois followed with 11 points plus six assists for the third seed of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.
“We have one more game and then we’ll see. It’s just 2-0,” mentioned Micic regarding the two-win cushion, “We’ve played so far two very good games at home. Definitely, they are a team that you can never count on to give up. We know that. We are going to prepare for the next game the same as we prepared for the game today.”
“You never want to lose on your home court, especially if that’s an elimination game, so they are gonna come out and fight. They are gonna give everything they have,” said Larkin, “So we have to just go there with the same mindset. We can’t feel good about ourselves because we’re up 2-0, you’ve gotta win three. So we’ll enjoy this one tonight, forget about it tomorrow and start preparing for the next game.”
The Playoffs Game 2 hosts kept pushing after the break and Larkin’s 13 points in the first half. The widened distance proved too great for the Spanish outlet to overcome, especially without Walter Tavares.
“We did a great job. One more time we took a victory with a huge difference. We need to win one more game. Now it’s 2-0. We will play again in Madrid. Every game is difficult,” noted Ergin Ataman, “We know also tonight they missed their best player, Tavares, so it’s very important for them in that situation. They changed the strategy in the first half, so we had some confusion to attack with their three bigs. But in the second half, we talked and we knew what we needed to do. We didn’t make the turnovers and we made the shots and it was the difference.”
Tavares, 29, was a last-minute scratch for Pablo Laso’s side due to injury. Anthony Randolph and Carlos Alocen were sidelined as well. Trey Thompkins registered a team-high 17 points.
“I think, a little bit like the other day, our first half was kind of solid. We had some mistakes defensively that hurt us. But also we were not able to get baskets,” pointed out Laso, “We were not shooting with good percentages and then in the second half, they opened the scoreboard and when you give Efes that kind of lead, they manage the game very well. That’s it. We will be ready for the next one.”
Felipe Reyes in a rare appearance, his fourth in the current season of Europe’s premier club continental competition, piled up six points. The 41-year-old Spanish big became the oldest player to score a field goal this century.
The series shifts to Madrid with Game 3 slated to be held next Tuesday. The Whites must avoid defeat in the third meeting to force Game 4 at WiZink Center on Thursday. Game 5, if necessary, is scheduled to take place May 4, back in Istanbul.