By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The dynamic duo of Kevin Punter and Chimezie Metu couldn’t be denied. Barcelona got the 97-88 road win in Istanbul over Anadolu Efes and remains on top of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings with a 5-1 record.
Punter scored 20 points, Metu was the top scorer with a personal EuroLeague high of 21 points, Jabari Parker contributed 13 points and Justin Anderson had 12, while Juan Nunez finished the night with seven assists and four steals.
“We did a great job from start to finish, some lapses, but it was a good game overall”, said Metu after the final buzzer.
The Turkish side dropped to a 3-3 record, playing without injured Shane Larkin. Darius Thompson was Efes’ top scorer with 16 points, Jordan Nwora scored 13 and Elijah Bryant had 12.
However, Efes with just 7/21 threes couldn’t compete with Barcelona’s firepower which translated to 14/30 from the long range.
Barcelona dominated the third period
In an entertaining and high-scoring first half, Barcelona got an early 14-4 lead thanks to Parker and Punter, but Efes quickly reacted, closing the gap to three points (29-26) at the end of the first quarter.
Still, Barcelona maintained the lead with Metu taking over with 13 first-half points and getting a 43-36 advantage. That was the cue for an 8-0 run by Efes, which made the score 44-43 in favor of the hosts, and at the end of the second quarter Punter with a buzzer-beating three put Barcelona up by four (55-51).
That proved to be an omen, as Barcelona started the second half with a 16-7 run to make the score 71-58 and never looked back. The two teams entered the last period with the guests leading by 10 (76-66) and after the third three-pointer of Anderson in the game, Barcelona’s advantage jumped to 15 (83-68).
Photo credit: EuroLeague