By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Anadolu Efes prevailed over Olympiacos with a 75-65 victory in Istanbul for Round 23 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and remains strong in the playoffs’ course with a 15-8 record while also getting the needed difference against the Greeks.
Efes‘ team effort towards the win was paced by Adrien Moerman, who shared 12 points and seven rebounds, and Shane Larkin who was productive all over the floor with 11 points, eight assists, and four rebounds.
Olympiacos, who traveled to Istanbul whilst lacking captain Vassilis Spanoulis, had Janis Strelnieks and Nikola Milutinov scoring in double-digits with 14 and 12 points each, while Briante Weber had eight points, five rebounds and three assists in his EuroLeague debut.
In his post-game quotes, Ergin Ataman said he doesn’t see this as a real victory over Olympiacos, because Spanoulis didn’t play. “He is the heart of Olympiacos. I wish he had beat them with him and I hope we will face them in the Final Four”.
The Reds’ limited rotation, in addition to their all-around bad shooting, had coach David Blatt dropping “f..” bombs at the bench as the team didn’t seem to bounce back in the game despite their strong start.
Following the game, Blatt suffered from a little issue on his back that made him skip the press conference, while he met with Ataman later on in the lockers. The Turkish coach commented on his colleague’s condition in the presser: “I heard Blatt had a health problem. I am wishing him the best. I respect him a lot both as a coach and a person. I hope it was just in-game stress. Sometimes I am having this kind of problems too.“