By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
In front of a soldout crowd in the stands of the Sinan Erdem Sports Hall, Anadolu Efes followed on the latest EuroLeague victory that came against Virtus Bologna – breaking its previous seven-game losing streak -, taking down another giant victim like Barcelona, getting back-to-back upsets by winning 98-74.
Rodrigue Beaubois created separation for the Turkish team with some clutch baskets, ending the game as his side’s highest scorer with a season-high 21 points (4/4 from two, 4/5 from three).
“This win felt really good, we’re two in a row now. We can build on this and move forward, we have the potential but we have to fight to win games”, the French shooting guard commented on his performance.
Dan Oturu added 16 points with 6 boards, while Tibor Pleiss had 17 points and 6 rebounds in the win. Shane Larkin went close to a double-double with 15 points and 8 assists, leading his team’s tempo. “The beautiful side of our offense tonight was how we shared the ball. It’s only one win and every day is a final for us”, Erdem Can commented after his team’s second straight win in the EuroLeague.
Without Nicolas Laprovittola, who also missed the win in Round 21 over Zalgiris Kaunas, Nikola Kalinic took over offensively for the Catalan team, going close to his season-high with 14 points (3/6 from beyond the arc). Willy Hernangomez tried to contribute with a losing effort of 18 points (8/13 from the field). Rokas Jokubaitis had also a pretty good showing with 14 points and 5 assists. “We couldn’t defend any pick-and-roll situations”, Roger Grimau said after the defeat.
The second half completely belonged to Anadolu Efes
Erdem Can’s team had control of the encounter for the vast majority of the first half, being always ahead except Barcelona’s first two-point lead of the game (31-29) in the second quarter. Starting the game with a six-point scoring run, the home side went even up by nine points (24-15) at 8:15 on the clock in the second, but couldn’t get far away before heading to the locker rooms at halftime.
Up-and-gun balance was the key sentence opening the third quarter, with Anadolu Efes and Barcelona scoring on both sides consequently. Rodrigue Beaubois gave his team some time to breathe with a three-pointer off the dribble for the seven-point lead (59-52) at 4:39 minutes on the clock. Shane Larkin extended it to ten points (68-58) later on, at 1:30 minutes left, forcing Roger Grimau’s timeout.
The back-to-back EuroLeague champs in 2021 and 2022 didn’t stop, going up 78-60 following a 2+1 play from Rodrigue Beaubois with 9:12 minutes on the clock. From then on, Erdem Can’s team never stopped, always maintaining a double-digit advantage over the Catalan team. With this victory against the 2nd-seeded team in the EuroLeague, the Turkish side gets closer to the Play-Ins picture.
In the EuroLeague Regular Season Round 23, Anadolu Efes (9-13) will play once again at home, hosting AS Monaco on January 26 at 18:30 CET; FC Barcelona (15-7), will continue traveling on the road, starting a two-game trip to Italy to face first Milano on January 26 at 20:30 CET and then Virtus Bologna on January 31 at the same hour.
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
Read all the latest news from the basketball world