2019-20Regular SeasonRound 5
Anadolu Efes Istanbul 85
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 70
October 29, 2019 CET: 18:30
Local time: 20:30 SINAN ERDEM SPORTS HALL.

Micic shines as Efes beats Zvezda

Anadolu Efes Istanbul grabbed its fourth consecutive win by downing Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 85-70 at home on Tuesday. Efes improved to 4-1 in the standings while Zvezda dropped to 1-4. Vasilije Micic led the winners with 26 points, Shane Larkin added 13, Krunoslav Simon had 11 and Bryant Dunston got 10 for Efes. Lorenzo Brown led Zvezda with 18 points. Three-pointers by Micic, Larkin, Simon and Rodrigue Beaubois gave Efes a double-digit lead, 21-9, after 10 minutes. Billy Baron and Charles Jenkins stepped up for Zvezda, but Tibor Pleiss and Alec Peters helped Efes keep a 12-point margin, 38-26, at halftime. Brown, Dejan Davidovac and Branko Lazic fueled a 2-20 run that gave Zvezda its only lead of the game, 49-51. Larkin, Dunston and an unstoppable Micic stepped up, as Efes restored a 75-60 margin midway through the fourth quarter and cruised to another win.

Micic got Efes going with a mid-range jumper and a three-pointer for a 5-0 lead. Lorenzo Brown followed a layup with a three-point play, but Larkin singlehandedly kept the hosts in charge, 11-5. Simon and Rodrigue Beaubois each struck from downtown and a layup by Simon made it 19-7. Micic scored in penetration and a put-back layup by Ognjen Kuzmic fixed the score at 21-9 after 10 minutes. Simon and Ognjen Dobric traded three-pointers early in the second quarter and another put-back basket by Kuzmic gave Zvezda hope at 24-14. Micic insisted from beyond the arc and a jumper by Pleiss seemed to break the game open, 29-14. Jenkins rescued Zvezda with a driving layup and a couple of jumpers, but Larkin quickly restored a double-digit Efes lead, 31-20. Zvezda found a new go-to guy in Baron only to see James Anderson and a big three-pointer by Peters cause the visitors to call timeout at 38-24. A tip-in by James Gist kept Zvezda within 38-26 at halftime.

Dunston dunked twice right after the break, Micic hit a jumper off the dribble and a three-pointer by Peters boosted Efes's lead to 47-31. Lazic and Davidovac fueled a 0-6 run that gave Zvezda hope at 47-37. Micic sank a fallaway jumper, but he didn't find much help. Meanwhile, Brown had 7 points - a triple and a couple of layups - and Michael Ojo added a three-point play in a 0-14 run that Stratos Perperoglou capped with free throws to give Zvezda its first lead, 49-51. Larkin buried a three-pointer and got help from Micic to restore a 56-51 Efes lead after 30 minutes. Micic downed a triple early in the fourth quarter, but Brown and Davidovac made it a one-possession game, 59-56, with 8 minutes left. Dunston scored down low, getting help from Chris Singleton to boost the hosts' lead to 64-56. Simon, Micic and Anderson each buried a shot from beyond the arc to seal the outcome, 75-60, midway through the fourth quarter. Nothing changed from that moment as Efes kept a safe lead until the final buzzer.

Pivotal performer

Vasilije Micic was a constant threat against his former team all game long. He finished the game with 26 points on 5-of-8 two-point shooting, 4-of-6 three-point shooting and 4-of-4 on free throws. He added 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 5 fouls drawn for a PIR of 29.

Game-changing moment

A mammoth 2-20 run allowed Zvezda to take its only lead of the game, 49-51. Micic and Larkin combined for all the points in a 10-0 run that allowed Efes to regain the lead for good, 59-51, early in the fourth quarter. Zvezda never recovered.

Stellar stat

Three-point shots made the difference in this game. Zvezda hit just 5 of its 23 shots from downtown (21.7%). Efes buried 13 of 30 from beyond the arc (43.3%).

Did you notice?

Micic's 26 points was a new career-best effort for Efes's star point guard. His previous highest-scoring game in the EuroLeague was against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in last season's EuroLeague Semifinals, in which he scored 25 points.

Next game:

Both teams return to Turkish Airlines EuroLeague action later this week - on Thursday, October 31. Efes visits Panathinaikos OPAP Athens at 20:00 CET. A little earlier, at 19:00 CET, Zvezda hosts Khimki Moscow Region.

Vasilije Micic - Anadolu Efes Istanbul - EB19
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: LOTTERMOSER, ROBERT; ZAMOJSKI, JAKUB; PAPAPETROU, PETROS
Attendance: 12466
By Quarter1234
Anadolu Efes Istanbul21171829
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade9172519
End of Quarter1234
Anadolu Efes Istanbul21385685
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade9265170
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 LARKIN, SHANE 23:04 13 0/2 2/8 7/8 1   1 2 1 3       6 11
1 BEAUBOIS, RODRIGUE 13:58 5 0/2 1/3 2/2   3 3   1 2     1 1 3
2 SINGLETON, CHRIS 20:17 3 0/1 0/1 3/3       1 1 1     4 1 -1
4 BALBAY, DOGUS 11:31         1 3 4   1 1     2 1 3
8 GECIM, TOLGA 1:09                              
15 SANLI, SERTAC 1:09                   1         -1
21 PLEISS, TIBOR 12:36 4 2/3 0/1     1 1     1     1   1
22 MICIC, VASILIJE 25:52 26 5/8 4/6 4/4   2 2 5 2 4     3 6 29
23 ANDERSON, JAMES 15:55 7 1/1 1/3 2/2 2 4 6 1 1 1     1 1 12
25 PETERS, ALEC 21:30 6   2/2     7 7   1 1     2 2 13
42 DUNSTON, BRYANT 26:12 10 5/5 0/1   2 3 5 1   2 1   1 3 16
44 SIMON, KRUNOSLAV 26:47 11 1/4 3/5     2 2 5   2         11
Team           2   2     1         1
Totals 200:00 85 14/26 13/30 18/19 8 25 33 15 8 20 1 0 15 21 98
        53.8% 43.3% 94.7%
Head coach: ATAMAN, ERGIN
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 KUZMIC, OGNJEN 15:01 6 3/3     3 1 4 3   1     1   11
3 COVIC, FILIP 10:57   0/1 0/2   1 1 2 1   1     1   -2
4 BROWN, LORENZO 29:03 18 7/10 1/2 1/1   3 3 5 2 6     2 3 19
5 PERPEROGLOU, STRATOS 16:28 5 0/4 1/4 2/2                   2  
7 DAVIDOVAC, DEJAN 25:50 7 1/2 1/4 2/2 1 3 4 1 2 2     4 3 7
10 LAZIC, BRANKO 19:17 9 3/3 1/3     3 3   1       4 2 9
12 BARON, BILLY 22:52 6 2/2 0/3 2/2       1   2     3 1  
13 DOBRIC, OGNJEN 6:56 3   1/3                       1
15 GIST, JAMES 17:37 5 2/9 0/1 1/1 3 4 7 2 1 1     4 2 4
22 JENKINS, CHARLES 17:50 6 3/5 0/1     1 1 1 2 1     1   5
28 SIMANIC, BORISA 8:07                 2 2          
50 OJO, MICHAEL 10:02 5 2/4   1/1 1 3 4   1     1 1 2 8
Team           2 1 3               3
Totals 200:00 70 23/43 5/23 9/9 11 20 31 14 11 16 0 1 21 15 65
        53.5% 21.7% 100%
Head coach: GAVRILOVIC, ANDRIJA

Head Coaches

ATAMAN, ERGIN
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
"The positive thing in the game is that we played good defense, especially halfcourt. Our halfcourt defense worked very well, we didn't let the scorers, especially Billy Baron and Davidovac, find easy baskets in their set offense. But all game, also the negative thing, is that we made 20 turnovers, which is incredible for us, too many. It is the first time at home that we have so many turnovers and we gave them easy baskets after turnovers. Especially in the first half, we only had 6 assists, which is lower than our assist average. We average 20 assists in the EuroLeague. Our second half was much better; we shared the ball and finally closed the game with 15 assists. Anyway, we didn't play well so nobody will say after this game that Efes played good basketball tonight, but we won the game by 15. It showed that we have power, and have to be focused for Thursday night on the road against Panathinaikos."
GAVRILOVIC, ANDRIJA
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
"I want to congratulate Anadolu Efes for a good game and the win. They are in a very good moment in the EuroLeague and in the Turkish League, too. Our goal was to compete, to go until the end of the game trying to be close and make it a tight game, trying to make a surprise. We had a good reaction in the third quarter, but I think that if I see the statistics now, it was the first quarter in which we didn't respect what we planned, in terms of the rhythm of the game and how we wanted to play our offense. This first quarter was punishing our whole game. Besides that, there is a big difference in three-point shooting percentage and I think this explains the difference."

Players

SIMON, KRUNOSLAV
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
"It was not easy - they started to play well in the second half and we were playing much better in the first half, to be honest. But a win is a win and this is most important. Every game is the same; we need to collect wins in these kinds of games and see where we are in the end, if it will be enough for our goals. We have big confidence This team is always like that. It will be a tough game, for sure, because all of us know who is Panathinaikos and how they play in Athens. They have a great home court, so it will not be easy. We will try to win, but like I said, it will not be easy."
MICIC, VASILIJE
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
"It was a tough game. We knew what kind of game we could expect from them. They are a very physical team and play very tough, but we responded well. Our second half was almost perfect and I am happy for the win, but we have to turn our heads to the next game. [Zvezda's comeback] normal; they are a good team with potential. They have good offensive players and it is normal, in a game you cannot lead all the time. The good thing is that we stayed calm and found a way to respond defensively. We stole some balls and hit some crazy shots, but that is something you can deserve if you put your hearts out. We deserved it today, and I am happy about that. I am a Zvezda fan and am happy that we won today, but I wish them all the best. They made a great team. I hope they will have great success this year and I wish them all the best."
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