By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Anadolu Efes dished 34 assists and prevailed 104-99 over Unics Kazan in Istanbul as the team of coach Velimir Perasovic their third win in seven games.
Thomas Heurtel with 24 points and 8 assists, DeShaun Thomas with 20 points, Cedi Osman with 16 and Tayler Honeycutt with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists without any turnover led the charge for Anacolu Efes. For the losing side Keith Langford with 25 points and 9 assists, as also Artsiom Parakhouski with 20 points, did the best they could.
After all the Russian team started the game strong, having a 54-49 halftime lead with Langford already scoring 11 points and dishing 6 assists.
Things changed in the third quarter which ended with the score being 81-74 in favor of Anadolu Efes, which scored 32 points in this period, while keeping Unics at 20. The hosts got a 12 points advantage (95-83) with five minutes left.
The guests stayed in the game and cut the lead to four (98-94) with 52 seconds left. They couldn’t steal the win, however, against a stellar offensive performance by Anadolu Efes. The record for most assists in a Euroleague game is 36 and it’s held by Real Madrid, still 34 assists in 35 made field goals is an admirable feat.
Unics played without Lorenzo Brown whose contract is expected to be voided because he failed the medical tests.