By Antonis Stroggylakis / info@eurohoops.net
Shane Larkin made his first appearance on Eurohoops’ 2021-22 MVP Ladder a few days ago and after a couple of impressive showings that were combined with wins for Anadolu Efes. Tonight (16/12), he confirmed his recent top form yet again with his best performance in the season so far.
Larkin produced a season-high 26 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out six assists to lead Efes to a 92 – 78 win on the road over Maccabi Tel Aviv. The reigning EuroLeague champions grabbed their sixth victory over eight matches to further establish themselves in the playoff spots after beginning the season poorly.
“It was a big game for us,” Larkin said. He had 6-7 triples en route to his new season scoring record. “We came in here tied in the standings with this team, and it was a big game for both sides. So it was good for us to come in here and play hard on the defensive end, make some shots and get a big road win.”
“The atmosphere was great tonight, and I’m just glad we were able to get a win,” Larkin added.
Maccabi suffered its sixth loss in a row to drop to 7 – 9; a completely opposing path than the one of Efes. The Yellows were ahead 29 – 20 early in the first period before Larkin got energized by scoring all of his first 12 points in eight minutes during the second quarter to push Efes towards taking a 47 – 50 halftime lead. The hosts went in pursuit mode and remained there for the rest of the game since they were unable to match their opponents’ firepower, plethora of offensive solutions or stop Larkin from both scoring for himself or involving his teammates.
“We didn’t start well at the beginning of the game, but maybe that’s normal because the atmosphere was so hot and Maccabi started with a great tempo in the beginning,” commented Efes coach Ergin Ataman. “Then after Larkin came on the court, we stopped to play our set offense and we started to play directly with pick-and-roll and Larkin found the way to break their defense.”
Ante Zizic had 23 points on 9-11 shots while getting eight rebounds for a Maccabi team that tried to remain close and was down 71 – 75 with four minutes to play. Everything was up for grabs but that was when Efes went off for a 0 – 9 run (with Larkin scoring five) to move up by double figures and get an advantage that paced them safely down the stretch.
“When you are on a losing streak, it is very hard to step out of the streak and turn things our way,” Zizic said. “When things are good, its easy to make shots, but when there’s pressure, it’s not. I am sure the next game, the game after that, all these misses are going to be makes.”
Maccabi was particularly ineffective from beyond the arc, finishing with 6-23. Scottie Wilbekin (10 points) had the roughest time among Maccabi shooters with 1-8 from 3-pointers.
James Nunnally had 14 points and Keenan Evans dropped 12 points.
One impressive aspect of Efes’ offensive display was that the Turkish side was so effective despite 2021 EuroLeague MVP Vasilije Micic scoring a season-low four points while shooting 1-9 from the field.
“On a night when Micic missed everything on offense, Larkin made tonight and the guys played good defense in the fourth quarter,” Ataman commented.
Photo: EuroLeague Basketball