By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
After back-to-back defeats in the EuroLeague, Baskonia managed to bounce back on the road, beating Anadolu Efes 87-80 with an offensive push in the fourth quarter (30-20). If this happened, most of the credit must be given to the deadly backcourt duo composed of Codi Miller-McIntyre and Markus Howard.
The former Partizan Belgrade American-Bulgarian player went once again close to a triple-double with 14 points, 10 assists, and 9 rebounds.
“It looks like I have to keep trying to rebound more. It was good that we won”, he commented on the matter. “I hope all the families that were affected by the earthquake here in Turkey are doing much better now”, he also shared.
It’s not the first time this has happened since he joined the Basque team, but Nick Calathes remains the last to perform a EuroLeague triple-double, in April 2019. “It was an important game for us, we played with patience on both defense and offense”, Dusko Ivanovic shared after the game.
Markus Howard, instead, tied his second-best performance of the EuroLeague season, scoring 28 points with 5/6 from two-point range, 5/8 from beyond the three-point line, and 3/4 at the line.
He must have something against Turkish teams, as he equalized his 28-point night that came against Fenerbahce. “Whatever my teammates need me to do, I’ll do it to the best of my ability”, he said.
On the home side, instead, the former Baskonia shooting specialist Shane Larkin had a losing effort of 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Darius Thompson, who played with the Basque team last year, had a sloppy night of 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists. Dan Oturu added 14 points and 7 rebounds. “Until the fourth quarter, we were really focused defensively, but then we started panicking because the shots weren’t falling in. We need to focus on the next one”, Erdem Can commented after the defeat.
A balanced clash in Istanbul
Balance was the keyword all throughout the night in Istanbul, as both the first (17-17) and second (36-36) quarters ended with the two sides tied at the same score. Entering the last and decisive ten minutes on an 8-0 run, it looked like Baskonia was able to escape Turkey with a victory.
Erdem Can’s team bounced back quickly, but Dusko Ivanovic’s side had another 10-point run to extend the leader to eight points (76-68) with 4:59 left. From then on, Baskonia continued to roll, never turning their backs again, pushed by the backcourt connection of Howard and Miller-McIntyre.
Both teams started the double-game week with away losses. Baskonia didn’t have the upper hand over Maccabi Tel Aviv, losing 89-81 against the Israeli yellow-and-blue side in Belgrade, while Anadolu Efes suffered a defeat on the road in Munich, as Bayern got the 86-71 win.
In the EuroLeague Round 17, instead, they will respectively face EA7 Emporio Armani Milano (28/12 at 20:30 CET) on the road and Fenerbahce (28/12 at 18:30 CET) at home, in the first Turkish derby of the European season.
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague