Larkin rallies Efes to victory in Istanbul derby

Shane Larkin had his best game of the season in leading Anadolu Efes Istanbul to a come-from-behind 84-89 victory over crosstown rival Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul on Thursday in the season’s first Istanbul derby. Larkin scored a season-high 25 points and matched his season-best with 7 assists to lead Efes, which won its fourth straight game to improve to 6-6. Fenerbahce lost its fourth in a row to slip to 3-9. Efes scored the last 8 points of the game to complete a comeback after trailing by 12 earlier in the fourth quarter. Tibor Pleiss added 17 points and Vasilije Micic scored 14, but he also committed 6 turnovers. Marial Shayok led Fenerbahce with a career-high 18 points in 4-of-4 three-point shooting, Nando De Colo tallied 14 points and 5 assists, Jan Vesely netted 13 in 24 minutes before fouling out and Pierria Henry scored 14, dished 4 assists and swiped 4 steals.

The big men opened the scoring for their respective teams with Pleiss sinking a jumper for the visitors and Vesely making a floater for Fenerbahce. Three-pointers by Henry and Shayok sandwiched free throws by De Colo in lifting the hosts to a 12-4 advantage. Rodrigue Beaubois ended the Efes drought with a floater only to see De Colo bury a triple. Henry’s second three of the night gave the hosts the game’s first double-digit lead, 18-6. Larkin came off the bench and delivered a three-point play, Adrien Moerman made a put-back and Larkin added free throws as Efes went on a 0-14 run that Beaubois capped with a three to give the visitors an 18-20 lead after 10 minutes.

Larkin kept the momentum with Efes when he drained a three in transition to start the second quarter. Free throws by Vesely ended a 5-minute-long scoring drought for Fenerbahce. Achille Polonara stepped up with back-to-back threes to bring the lead back to Fenerbahce, 26-25, as the crowd began singing. The teams started trading shots and it was 30-32 after a floater by Krunoslav Simon midway through the quarter. Singleton shined with an incredible block on defense and Micic netted free throws to keep Efes’s nose in front. Fenerbahce turned defense into offense in a 6-0 spurt for a 39-36 edge, which prompted an Efes timeout. Devin Booker added a bucket on the break for a 41-36 Fenerbahce cushion at the break.

The Fenerbahce momentum remained into the second half through a Vesely layup and Shayok triple for a double-digit lead, 46-36. Pleiss revived the Efes attack, through Shayok’s third three of the night stretched the margin to 11. Efes battled back to within 3 on a basket by Larkin after Vesely was called for a technical foul – his fourth personal foul – and took a seat 4 minutes into the third quarter. Simon tied it at 51-51, but Marko Guduric – who had missed his first 5 shots of the game – scored the next 7 points in what became a 12-0 run. After an Efes timeout, Beaubois penetrated for a layup and Singleton converted a three-point play. A pull-up jumper by Tarik Biberovic ended the third quarter with Fenerbahce ahead 67-56.

Bryant Dunston took charge for Efes with a pair of scores early in the fourth quarter. De Colo got Fenerbahce back on track with a layup. A three by Micic made it 72-65 and resulted in a Fenerbahce timeout. Larkin and Micic connected on back-to-back threes to get Efes within 74-71. Shayok drained a three to give Fenerbahce some breathing room, though Efes kept the pressure on through Larkin and Pleiss. Larkin’s fourth three of the game made it 82-81 with 1:49 to play. After a jumper by De Colo, Moerman scored, while drawing Vesely’s fifth foul, but missed the resulting free throw that could have tied it with 1:18 remaining. However, Fenerbahce turned the ball over on its next two possessions, while Larkin drove for a go-ahead layup and Micic netted free throws. De Colo misses a three to tie it and

Larkin and Efes dominate late

Anadolu Efes Istanbul entered the fourth quarter trailing Fenerbahce by 11. Moreover, the champs had made only 5 of 20 three-pointers and committed 14 turnovers in the first 30 minutes. In the fourth quarter, however, Efes made 5 of 7 threes and committed just 2 turnovers in outscoring Fenerbahce 17-33 to rally for the win. Larkin was at the center of it all with 11 points and 3 assists in the fourth quarter. He made his only two-pointer – a go-ahead layup in the final minute, shot 3 for 4 from downtown and also contributed 2 steals in the fourth in compiling a PIR of 14. Larkin finished the game with a season-high 25 points plus 7 assists, which matched his season-high.

Fenerbahce finds key contributions from Shayok, Biberovic

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul guard Marial Shayok made 3 of 14 three-pointers in his first 10 appearances of his EuroLeague career. His 11th was the charm. Shayok was perfect in 4 tries from behind the arc en route to a personal-best 18 points against Anadolu Efes Istanbul in Round 12. While Shayok was disrupting Efes from the perimeter, Tarik Biberovic scored 6 points and collected 2 steals in his third appearance of the season. The 20-year-old forward was scoreless and had just 1 steal in a combined 30 minutes in his first two games. Though it wasn’t enough to win in the derby, Shayok and Biberovic gave Coach Djordjevic plenty to think about going forward.

Efes’s depth makes the difference

Shane Larkin came off the bench to score 25 points and dish 7 assists against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in Round 12 and those numbers were more than the entire second unit for the hosts. The five Fenerbahce reserves who played totaled 23 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 block in nearly 65 minutes. Efes got 38 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 blocks from six reserves, who combined to play 78 minutes. In addition to Larkin, Bryant Dunston scored his only 4 points early in the fourth quarter to help trigger the comeback and Chris Singleton contributed 5 points, 3 rebounds and 2 blocks in 16 minutes. Strong play from the bench helped keep Efes fresh down the stretch to take the win.