Anantolou Efes – Maccabi 109-77: He resolved it with a rain of three points

After a long time, Anadolu Efes reminded of the team that swept into the EuroLeague last year. With an outstanding rhythm in attack and spirit in defense, Ergin Ataman’s team easily prevailed against Maccabi (109-77) in the first game of the blue and yellow after the departure of Giannis Sfairopoulos from the technical lead.

Vassilie Mitsic (20 points, 10 assists) and Shane Larkin (16 points, 6 assists) were the top winners, finishing the game with 22/34 three-pointers – 22 is a new record in tournament history.

The race

Anadolu Efes took the reins early despite Maccabi Tel Aviv’s zone defense. Vassilie Mitsic and Sein Larkin were very active and the protagonists of +11 (17-6 in 8 ‘), which a little later grew even more (26-10 in 12’). The visitors were clearly inferior to the conditions on both sides of the court, unable to set up a good defense that would have allowed them to ‘break in’ into the game. For the time being, after doing so, they only managed to reduce it to -9 (36-27 in 18′).

The first part ended with Anadolu Efes at +14 (45-31) thanks to Rodrigo Bobois’ three-pointer in the final of the season, with the difference in three-pointer accuracy scores explaining a lot (7/15 vs 1/8).

If Maccabi Tel Aviv wanted to take something, it had to do it in the third quarter to close the gap. But it failed miserably. The hosts continued to step on the gas, with the result that the difference took the rise. So strong that the Turks reached +30 (71:41 in 27′) before the end of the third period and thus ended the game prematurely. Since the Maccabi Tel Aviv players had only 1/12 threes but also 12 errors in the 30th minute of the game, nothing else was possible.

From there, as you can see, the game took on a procedural nature, with Anadolu Efes fearlessly continuing and, at 2’45”, ended up achieving a triple-digit score in the match, amid a peripheral storm of shots.

THE REFEREES: Pereth – Petek – Koromilas.

THE TEN MINUTES: 21-10, 45-31, 74-47, 109-77.

ΑΝΑΝΤΟΛΟΥ ΕΦΕΣ (Ataman): Larkin 16 (4/6 3-pointers, 6 assists, 3 errors), Boboa 13 (3/5 3-pointers), Singleton 5 (5 rebounds), Bryant 8 (2/2 3-pointers, 6 rebounds), Gazi, Moerman 17 (5/7 3-pointers), plays 7 (1), Mitsic 20 (4/5 3-pointers, 10 assists), Anderson 11 (3/3 3-pointers), Petrushev 2, Dunston 8 (4/6 2 points), Simon 2 (0/3 three points).

MACABI TEL AVIV (Eben): Wilbekin 17 (1 three points, 6 assists), Caleiro 2, Williams 6 (0/4 three points), Reynolds 6 (5 rebounds, 3 errors), Dibartolomeo 10 (2), Thomas 5 (1/5 two points, 1/4 three points), Blazer 3 (1), Cohen, Nanali 7 (1), Zizic 17 (7/14 two points, 3/3 shots, 8 rebounds), Ziv 4.

Group Stats – Anantolou Efes: 20/30 two points, 22/34 three points, 3/3 shots, 30 rebounds (23 defensive + 7 offensive), 28 assists, 10 steals, 15 errors, 5 blocks.

Group Stats – Maccabi Tel Aviv: 21/45 two points, 6/22 three points, 17/17 shots, 26 rebounds (13 defensive + 13 offensive), 17 assists, 12 steals, 13 errors, 1 block.

The next commitments of the two teams: Anadolu Efes has a very demanding game ahead of them, against Fenerbahce (3/3, 19:30), while Maccabi Tel Aviv returns to their stadium to host Zenit (3/3, 21:05).