2019-20Regular SeasonRound 19
Anadolu Efes Istanbul 88
AX Armani Exchange Milan 68
January 14, 2020 CET: 18:30
Local time: 20:30 SINAN ERDEM SPORTS HALL.

Efes rolls past Milan for 16th win

Anadolu Efes Istanbul never trailed en route to an 88-68 win over visiting AX Exchange Armani Milan, which lifted Efes into sole possession of first place on Tuesday night. It marked the fourth straight win and 12th win in the last 13 games for Efes to lift the team to a 16-3 record on the season. Milan dropped to 10-9 with its sixth consecutive road loss. Efes controlled the game from the start and pulled away with an 8-0 run to end the first half and then used a 9-0 third-quarter spurt to take an 18-point lead and never look back. Shale Larkin shined with 23 points, while Chris Singleton scored all 16 of his points in the first half. Sertac Sanli finished with 13 points in the win. Arturas Gudaitis led Milan with 11 points plus 7 rebounds, while Michael Roll and Kaleb Tarczewski scored 10 apiece.

Krunoslav Simon hit a three-pointer on one end and Keifer Skyes on the other. Larkin took it to the hoop to spark a 7-0 run, capped by a triple from Singleton for a 12-5 lead. Milan was held scoreless for 4 minutes, but Gudaitis had a three-point play and Sergio Rodriguez hit from long range to get within a single point. The scoring slowed down and Efes led 16-15 after 10 minutes. Singleton and Larkin each had a three-pointer for the hosts early in the second, but Milan took it to the rim through Gudaitis and Tarczewski. Singleton hit another three-pointer to make it 27-23, but Nemanja Nedovic and Tarczewski connected on an alley-oop. After Singleton's fourth three-pointer on as many attempts, Luis Scola had a three-point play and Vladimir Micov knocked down a three to get within 34-33. However, Larkin had a layup-plus-foul and followed it up with a triple as Efes finished the second quarter with an 8-0 run to take a 42-33 cushion into halftime.

Larkin was hot to start the second half, with his triple extending the margin to 47-35. Milan answered with Micov from downtown and Tarczewski inside, but Larkin hit another triple before Tibor Pleiss scored twice inside to cap a 9-0 run and make it 56-40. Michael Roll made a floater to stop the drought, and Micov had a three-point play to cut within 62-49. But Sertac Sanli hit a last-second triple to end the third quarter and then scored from close range early in the fourth to make it 69-49. Roll hit a pair of three-pointers as Milan got within 71-57, but never closer than that. Rodrigue Beaubois drained a pair of corner triples and Sanli added to his tally from close range to secure a 20-point final margin.

Efes starters ruled

It took 28 minutes and 15 seconds for any player from the Efes bench to score in this game. Efes's starters scored the team's first 58 points until Rodrigue Beaubois hit a jumper. The home team starters were outscoring Milan 58-42 at that point.

Perfect Singleton

Among Efes's starters – Shane Larkin, Krunoslav Simon, Tibor Pleis and James Anderson – it was Chris Singleton who got Efes going in the first half. He dropped 16 points on 4-for-4 from three-point range in the first two quarters, keeping Efes in front before Larkin took over.

Making up for offensive boards

Milan outrebounded Efes 13-4 on the offensive glass and the hosts had just 1 offensive rebound in the first three quarters. But it did not matter, and Efes still held a commanding double-digit margin after 30 minutes because at that point it held Milan to 37.8% two-point shooting, 22.2% three-point shooting, and Efes had just 4 turnovers through three quarters, compared to 10 by Milan.

Trend goes on

This was the 10th consecutive season these two teams met at least twice in the EuroLeague and the first time since 2014-15 that Efes has swept regular-season meetings against Milan. Efes has now swept Milan three times in the past 10 seasons and two teams have split the series the other seven times.

Next up

Efes will be in action already on Thursday when it visits Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv, while Efes will play again on Friday when it welcomes LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne.

Shane Larkin - Anadolu Efes Istanbul - EB19
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Euroleague.net
Referees: PEREZ, MIGUEL ANGEL; PUKL,SASA; DIFALLAH, MEHDI
Attendance: 13708
By Quarter1234
Anadolu Efes Istanbul16262323
AX Armani Exchange Milan15181619
End of Quarter1234
Anadolu Efes Istanbul16426588
AX Armani Exchange Milan15334968
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 34:02 23 4/7 4/8 3/3 1 2 3 4 2 2 1 1   7 30
1 BEAUBOIS, RODRIGUE 18:20 8 1/3 2/6         2 1       3   2
2 SINGLETON, CHRIS 26:41 16 2/4 4/5     1 1 1     1 1 2 3 16
4 BALBAY, DOGUS 7:28           1 1       1   1   1
8 GECIM, TOLGA 1:57   0/2     1 1 2 1             1
15 SANLI, SERTAC 15:45 13 3/4 1/2 4/4   1 1 1   1     4 3 11
18 MOERMAN, ADRIEN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 TUNCER, BUGRAHAN 11:32 3 1/3 0/1 1/1   2 2 3         1   4
21 PLEISS, TIBOR 21:56 8 4/4 0/1     6 6 1   1 1   2 1 13
23 ANDERSON, JAMES 15:48 6 3/4 0/1   1 5 6   2 1     2 1 10
25 PETERS, ALEC 15:38 4 2/2 0/1     2 2 1 1 1     1   5
44 SIMON, KRUNOSLAV 30:53 7 1/2 1/4 2/2   6 6 5 1 1     2 2 14
Team           1 4 5               5
Totals 200:00 88 21/35 12/29 10/10 4 31 35 19 7 7 4 2 18 17 112
        60% 41.4% 100%
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
AX Armani Exchange Milan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
00 DELLA VALLE, AMEDEO 13:27 5 1/3 1/1   1   1           1 1 4
5 MICOV, VLADIMIR 20:56 8 1/5 2/3   2 2 4 2   1     1 1 8
6 BILIGHA, PAUL 18:04 2 1/2 0/1     1 1 2 1 2     2    
7 GUDAITIS, ARTURAS 20:22 11 2/4   7/9 2 5 7   1 3 1   1 7 19
10 ROLL, MICHAEL 16:59 10 2/3 2/3     4 4 1         1 2 14
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 16:26 3 0/4 1/4   1 2 3 1       1 2   -3
15 TARCZEWSKI, KALEB 18:31 10 4/6   2/2 3 3 6 2 1 4 1 1 5 1 9
16 NEDOVIC, NEMANJA 15:07 3 1/1 0/1 1/1   2 2 5         1 2 10
20 CINCIARINI, ANDREA 6:24   0/1                         -1
23 BURNS, CHRISTIAN 3:59   0/1 0/1     1 1           1   -2
28 SYKES, KEIFER 31:08 7 2/9 1/4   2 2 4 4 2 2   1 2 1 3
40 SCOLA, LUIS 18:37 9 4/8 0/5 1/1   2 2         1 1 3 3
Team           2 3 5               5
Totals 200:00 68 18/47 7/23 11/13 13 27 40 17 5 12 2 4 18 18 69
        38.3% 30.4% 84.6%
Head coach: MESSINA, ETTORE

Head Coaches

ATAMAN, ERGIN
Anadolu Efes Istanbul

"One more game we played super basketball. We had great defense, we shared the ball on offense. The only thing is defensive rebounds, we gave them a lot of offensive rebounds, especially in the first half. But I am proud of my players, they played a perfect game. We next have ASVEL, but every game is a single game. We take one game at a time. It is new game, new strategy, new players, we will try to play the same basketball. But this emotion of my players, this hustle is very important. If we will continue like this, I hope we will win that game.

"I think we played perfect defense the entire game. Very aggressive against their guards. Especially, we did not let Sergio Rodriguez find his shot. That was our strategy because he is the key for this team if he scores a three-point shot or makes assists. But we moved very well and played strong. It was fantastic basketball tonight in a fantastic atmosphere."

MESSINA, ETTORE
AX Armani Exchange Milan
"My congratulations to Coach Ataman and his team for a very good performance, led by another great game by Shane Larkin. They were sharp offensively, they very well organized, and we did not respond with the proper level of physicality. We were beaten on every loose ball. I remember vividly, three times there was a loose ball that we almost got, we did not, and they scored a three-point shot. That is 9 points like that. In addition to this, we shot very poorly a lot of open shots, especially at the beginning of the third quarter when we still had a chance to make it a game. The game was over in the third quarter. We have another game in 48 hours, a high-level challenge in Tel Aviv, and I hope we bounce back. Physically, you cannot improve it. That is who we are. When we lose games it is always the same thing. It is always not being able to play through contact, not being able to challenge people in the post, not being able to contain the dribble penetration. It is always the same thing. Also, we are now missing two of our best athletes, Brooks and Moraschini, and immediately you can see that. I know Efes is missing Dunston and Micic, two outstanding players, so this is not an excuse for the game, I am just talking our level of performance. Plus, it is very simple, if our three top players have a bad night like tonight, it is very difficult for us to win. "

Players

LARKIN, SHANE
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
"I feel good, we are playing really well as a team. I am feeling really well and healthy, my teammates are doing a great job of putting in position to be successful and we are out there executing. I feel well, we all feel well, hopefully we keep it going. Fans give me energy the whole game. They are always on my side, they are always cheering me and supporting me. [I had] a bad fall [in the fourth quarter], but their energy and their cheers got me up. I appreciate them and hopefully we can keep it going for them."
SINGLETON, CHRIS
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
"They left me open and I got the freedom to shoot that, so I shot it. Today was just one of the days it felt like all of my threes are going to go in. It was a very good win to keep our rhythm and get some guys to play. That's a good team, it was just a down day for them and I am happy we got the win. Coach had a good defensive plan, all together we stuck to it. We were active. We just need to do a little better on defensive rebounding. Other than that, it was a good game."