By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Anadolu Efes edged CSKA Moscow, 89-86, to progress to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four championship game.
Vasilije Micic, boosted by his MVP of the season award, until fouling out made things happen for the Turkish side leading from start to finish. The Serbian guard logged a team-high 25 points to go along with six assists and three rebounds.
“Today I tried a little bit to push at the beginning to give the pace to the team. I thought I would have something left in the tank, but I definitely didn’t have it,” he mentioned after the conclusion, “But as I said, we really stuck together in the end. It was a really, really tough game.”
Rodrigue Beaubois sank three triples in the first period and added six clutch points down the stretch completing his 15-point effort. Sertac Sanli drew up 19 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Shane Larkin missed a couple of late free throws opening the door for a potential comeback but still produced 11 points. Krunoslav Simon had ten points.
The Final Four opener was a repeat of the last Final Four contest prior to the cancellation of the 2020 edition. CSKA went in the opposite direction in Germany after its championship game triumph, two years ago in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The Russian powerhouse struggled offensively for large stretches.
Being held down to nearly 20% from beyond the arc by the Efes defense in the first three periods was a major issue. The largest lead for Ergin Ataman’s team was set at 21 points. A positive response in the fourth quarter cut the deficit all the way down to one point with 68 seconds left.
“I’m not good because we made the same mistakes again. We played perfect basketball for three quarters and then in the last quarter we made incredible mistakes,” confessed the Turkish boss, “All respect to Clyburn. We didn’t really stop him. We gave up all the isolation points to Clyburn.”
Defending Final Four MVP, Will Clyburn finished with a game-high 26 points. He was the leading force down the stretch but missing a couple of threes in the final 16 seconds was the difference between the W and the L. “I actually thought I had a good shot to win it, it did not fall my way, but we definitely had a chance to win it,” he claimed.
Daniel Hackett went for 17 points and Gabriel Lundberg had 15 points behind 6/7 field goals. Tornike Shengelia generated the fourth double-digit scoring performance at Cologne with ten points to his name.
Friday’s loss sends the team coached by Dimitris Itoudis to the third-place game, which will open Sunday’s schedule at Lanxess Arena. The winning side will take on the corresponding team of the second semifinal between FC Barcelona and AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milano.