By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
After beating AS Monaco and Zalgiris Kaunas at home, while escaping from Berlin with a win over ALBA, Fenerbahce came back to Istanbul by being hosted by the back-to-back EuroLeague champions.
The close trip to the Sinan Erdem Sports Hall was a successful one, winning 89-84 against Efes.
After two difficult shooting nights in the wins over Zalgiris Kaunas and ALBA Berlin, Nigel Hayes-Davis found once again confidence with the basket scoring 24 points and 6 rebounds, contributing to extending Fenerbahce‘s winning streak with Sarunas Jasikevicius on the yellow-and-blue- bench.
The former Zalgiris Kaunas player shared his satisfaction after the game. “We started off giving way too many points, [Shane] Larkin did his best. He’s a fantastic player. We rallied together, we made key adjustments”, he commented. “We have to be extremely happy for our defensive effort”, Fenerbahce’s head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius added in the aftermath.
Controlling the team’s tempo from the point guard position, Nick Calathes went close to a double-double with 17 points, 8 assists, and 3 steals, giving his team the late four-point lead with a deep three-pointer off the dribble. Moreover, he extended it to five points with a clutch one from deep with 29″ left.
“Everybody is important, we needed this victory on the road against Efes to keep building”, he said.
His Greek countryman Georgios Papagiannis had important minutes in Fenerbahce’s comeback attempt in the third quarter, ending the night with 12 points (6/7 2FG), and converting a 2+1 play with 1:18 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The two former Panathinaikos players were crucial.
Larkin was hot but…
Trying to make Erdem Can’s team finally survive after three consecutive defeats in the EuroLeague, banking in the totality of Anadolu Efes‘ field goals in the third quarter, scoring 15 points with 5/5 from two-point range, Shane Larkin concluded the Istanbul derby with 28 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in the losing effort against the Turkish rivals.
Ending the first half perfectly in shooting from the field (7/7), Dan Oturu had yet again another convincing showing for Anadolu Efes, extending his double-digit scoring streak to the third straight game after combining 34 points between clashes against Bayern Munich and Baskonia. He ended with 19 points and 7 rebounds, while Rodrigue Beaubois added 10 points in the loss.
Erdem Can shared his thoughts in the post-game flash interview. “Small details decided the game offensively and defensively. Now we try to rebuild ourselves, trying to get better with everything we have in our hands. There’s a little bit of frustration because of those small details”, the former Fenerbahce’s assistant coach commented.
In the next double-game week’s action, Anadolu Efes will travel on the road in Spain to try to break its losing streak, first in Valencia and then against Real Madrid. Fenerbahce, instead, will play both of its games at home, hosting Crvena Zvezda first and then Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Sugar @shanelarkin making it look easy out there…
He’s having himself a night in the Turkish Derby 🥶 pic.twitter.com/I9qy7eCxBF
— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) December 28, 2023
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague