By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Vasilije Micic posted 18 points, nine assists and nine rebounds while scoring 11 over the last 6:1 as Anadolu Efes beat Olympiacos Piraeus 82 – 71 in a rematch of one of the two 2022 EuroLeague semifinals.
“I did not know I was [close to a triple-double],” Micic said. “Honestly, I thought I have 9 turnovers. The way I started the game was not so good, with some lack of concentration, and aggressiveness from Walkup, which I give him great credit for his defense. I am happy that somehow I found a way to come back to the game and was not a bad game.”
Micic and his teammates combined for 15-30 triples, nine of them in the last 13 minutes, to grab their fourth win in a row. It was during that stretch, that Efes used a 12-0 run over four minutes through the third and fourth period to turn a 48 – 52 deficit into a 58 – 53 lead behind back-to-back 3-pointers by Will Clyburn. He finished with a game-high 24 points on 4-8 from beyond the arc plus five rebounds
The 3-point assault by Efes continued with Micic entering the picture while Olympiacos, that was up 35 – 45 four minutes into the second half, fell more and more behind as the game progressed. Rodrigue Beaubois (19 points) made his own threes 5-6 by draining the bucket for the 77 – 69 with 1:42 remaining and then Clyburn hit the win-sealing 3-pointer to make it 80 – 71.
“It is a very important victory for us,” Efes coach Ergin Ataman said. “We started the game terribly with turnovers and a 0-7 score. And we lost the control of the game in the first half. We did not play our game. We talked in the locker room, and in the second half, we continued to play better defense, a more aggressive defense. And we also used that aggressivity with Isaiah Taylor who gave us a lot. On offense, we started to share the ball, we found a scorer in Beaubois. We played with his off-screen shots. It gave us confidence and we then played our game. Every player is important to share the ball. I think second half we played perfect basketball.”
EuroLeague’s November MVP Sasha Vezenkov finished with 18 points for Olympiacos. He had 15 of them in the first 30 minutes with eight straight to put the Reds up 46 – 53 before Efes’ comeback. Giannoulis Larentzakis dropped 13 points, Moustapha Fall notched 12 points plus six rebounds and Kostas Sloukas had 12 points, six assists and six boards.
“We were leading for three quarters and it was one more time in a crucial game that we did not manage to win the game having all the confidence and knowing what we should do to win,” Olympiacos coach Giorgos Bartzokas said. “We started turning the ball over, we rushed, we did not execute well, and of course, Efes made some amazing, very difficult shots with the talented players they have.”
Olympiacos started the game with a 0 – 10 run and led 27 – 37 halfway through the second period. The Greek side retained an advantage until the beginning of the fourth quarter when Clyburn hit the go-ahead 3-pointer and Efes never looked back.