By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Milan didn’t have Nikola Mirotic and Zach LeDay played despite battling injuries until the 11th hour.
Still., nobody expected that in Istanbul the game between Efes and the Italians would be decided by 44 points. The final score was 110-66 as the hosts didn’t face any kind of resistance.
Seven players of Efes scored in double digits with Rodrigue Beaubois leading the way with 18 and Jordan Nwora followed with 15.
Newcomer PJ Dozier added nine assists and had eight points, while Shane Larkin contributed 11 points in 15 minutes of action.
As Dozier said: “We have an amazing group”.
“We lost our last five games. It was time for us to respond and send a message,” added coach Luaka Banchi.
On the other hand, Armoni Brooks, with 13 points, was the top scorer, and LeDay added 10 for the Italians, who dropped to 12-11. Meanwhile, Efes improved to 11-12 in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings.
Total dominance
Efes set the tone early, getting a 24-9 lead at the end of the first period after an 11-2 run that included six points by Rodrigue Beaubois.
However, this was just a sign of things to come.
The hosts jumped to a 37-16 lead and at halftime, the score was 56-31, while at the end of the third period, Efes was up by 39 (87-48).
The lead of Efes reached even the jaw-dropping number of 46 points (110-64) as Milan simply never entered the game.
Photo credit: EuroLeague