2019-20Regular SeasonRound 26
ALBA Berlin 86
Anadolu Efes Istanbul 99
February 27, 2020 CET: 20:00
Local time: 20:00 MERCEDES-BENZ ARENA

Efes sets new record by holding off ALBA

Anadolu Efes Istanbul gained a commanding 86-99 victory at ALBA Berlin to maintain its three-game lead at the top of the standings and set a new competition record by winning its 12th consecutive road game. The Turkish champs raced to a double-digit lead in the first 10 minutes before ALBA fought back to make it 47-50 at halftime. A dominant third quarter sent Efes ahead by double digits again and there was no way back for the hosts this time. Vasilije Micic led his team with 23 points and 9 assists, while Adrien Moerman also contributed heavily with 19 points and 7 rebounds. Tibor Pleiss made 9 of 12 two-pointers in his total of 18 points, while Rodrigue Beaubois converted 3 of 4 triples in his 15. Krunoslav Simon added 11 points for the winning side. Martin Hermannsson paced ALBA with 19 points and 8 assists, while Rokas Giedraitis scored 17. Marcus Eriksson (14) and Niels Giffey (13) also scored in double figures for the hosts. Efes improved to 23-3, while ALBA dropped to 9-17.

A three-pointer by Chris Singleton and a three-point play by Micic gave Efes the early edge. Triples from Micic and James Anderson were equaled by Hermannsson as ALBA battled to stay in touch, but another three from Micic made it 14-21. A pair of baskets from Pleiss maintained the advantage and a pair of scores from Anderson was followed by a buzzer-beating alley-oop between Micic and Pleiss as the first quarter finished 21-32. Giedraitis started the second quarter with a steal and slam and consecutive inside scores from Kresimir Nikic forced Efes into a timeout as ALBA went on an 8-0 run, pulling it back to 29-32. Simon’s deep strike and a coast-to-coast score from Dogus Balbay restarted Efes, but triples from Niels Giffey and Giedraitis kept ALBA close. A mid-range strike from Micic kept the visitors ahead, but Eriksson’s three-point play and three-pointer made it 46-47. Moerman put up the half-century for Efes, making it 47-50 at the break.

Simon and Pleiss netted inside to open the second-half scoring, but a trio of Hermannsson baskets kept ALBA in touch. Beaubois’s three made it 54-63 before Giedraitis scored twice for the hosts. A pair of Moerman baskets maintained the Efes lead and Pleiss’s mid-range shot established a double-digit margin. Luke Sikma and Simon traded triples before Micic penetrated to score and Moerman added a triple to make it 65-79 after three quarters. Another deep strike from Beaubois kept Efes in charge early in the final frame and a tip-in from Pleiss stretched the lead to 73-86. Hermannsson’s fourth triple kept ALBA hoping, but Beaubois answered from the corner before fouling out. Pleiss and Nikic exchanged mid-range scores before Moerman scored again to make it 81-95 with 2 minutes left, effectively sealing the outcome.

Efes sets new competition record

The victory saw Efes set a new record in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague this century by recording its 12th consecutive road victory. The sequence, which started with a win at Olympiacos Piraeus in Round 7, eclipsed the previous best of 11 straight road triumphs achieved twice by CSKA Moscow, last year and in 2004-05.

Micic punishes ALBA again

Shane Larkin was again missing with an ankle sprain, but Vasilije Micic ensured his fellow backcourt star was not missed too much. Having won the MVP of the round award when the teams met in Round 2, Micic punished ALBA again by amassing a career-high PIR of 35 after combining 23 points (on 6-of-7 field goal shooting) and 9 assists – only spoiling his night by committing 9 turnovers.

Moerman back to his best

Another sparkling individual performance for Efes came from Adrien Moerman, who scored 11 points in the third quarter to give his team a commanding lead. The Frenchman finished with a season-high 19 points after making 9 of 11 field goals, setting another season-high with 7 rebounds to show he is back to his best after missing the first 15 games of the season through injury.

Defense keeps ALBA in touch

Trailing by double digits after the first quarter, ALBA roared back into contention with an 8-0 run at the start of the second sparked by defense: Rokas Giedraitis made 2 steals and forced another turnover, while Niels Giffey blocked a shot and Jonas Mattiseck made another steal during that brief passage of play, which made Efes truly uncomfortable.

Next round

Efes stays on the road to visit Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv in Round 27 next Wednesday, on the same night ALBA welcomes FC Barcelona.

Vasilije Micic - Anadolu Efes Istanbul - EB19
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Euroleague.net
Referees: RADOVIC, SRETEN; ROCHA, FERNANDO; RACYS, SAULIUS
Attendance: 9343
By Quarter1234
ALBA Berlin21261821
Anadolu Efes Istanbul32182920
End of Quarter1234
ALBA Berlin21476586
Anadolu Efes Istanbul32507999
ALBA Berlin
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
5 GIFFEY, NIELS 21:35 13 3/6 2/3 1/2 1 1 2 1 1 2 1   1 2 12
6 DELOW, MALTE 3:31                              
8 ERIKSSON, MARCUS 22:12 14 2/2 3/6 1/1   3 3   1 1   1 1 4 16
9 MATTISSECK, JONAS 21:35     0/4         1 2 1   1 1 2 -2
11 BRENNEKE, LORENZ 1:15                              
15 HERMANNSSON, MARTIN 24:19 19 2/4 4/5 3/4   2 2 8   3     5 3 20
16 NIKIC, KRESIMIR 18:55 8 4/4     1 3 4 1 1   1   1 2 16
25 OGBE, KENNETH 4:57 2 1/1                         2
31 GIEDRAITIS, ROKAS 23:46 17 4/6 2/9 3/6 2   2   2 1   1 2 4 9
34 CAVANAUGH, TYLER 17:32 4 1/5 0/1 2/2   1 1 2         1 2 3
35 NNOKO, LANDRY 14:08   0/1       3 3           3   -1
43 SIKMA, LUKE 26:15 9 3/3 1/3   3 4 7 8 1 3 1   2   19
Team                     2         -2
Totals 200:00 86 20/32 12/31 10/15 7 17 24 21 8 13 3 3 17 19 92
        62.5% 38.7% 66.7%
Head coach: GARCIA RENESES, AITO
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
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 BEAUBOIS, RODRIGUE 22:17 15 3/5 3/4     1 1 4 2   1 1 5 1 15
2 SINGLETON, CHRIS 19:43 3 0/3 1/4   1 1 2 2   2   1 1   -3
4 BALBAY, DOGUS 13:45 2 1/1       1 1 1 2       1   5
8 GECIM, TOLGA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
15 SANLI, SERTAC 1:27                         1   -1
18 MOERMAN, ADRIEN 25:13 19 8/10 1/1   4 3 7           1 4 27
19 TUNCER, BUGRAHAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 PLEISS, TIBOR 31:33 18 9/12 0/1   3 2 5   3       2 1 21
22 MICIC, VASILIJE 36:30 23 4/5 2/2 9/9   5 5 9 2 9 1   4 9 35
23 ANDERSON, JAMES 17:07 8 1/2 2/3     4 4     1   1 3   5
25 PETERS, ALEC 2:33           1 1           1    
44 SIMON, KRUNOSLAV 29:52 11 2/7 2/5 1/2 1 2 3 6   2 1     2 12
Team             5 5     1         4
Totals 200:00 99 28/45 11/20 10/11 9 25 34 22 9 15 3 3 19 17 120
        62.2% 55% 90.9%
Head coach: ATAMAN, ERGIN

Head Coaches

GARCIA RENESES, AITO
ALBA Berlin
"We defended bad in the beginning of the game and we defended bad in the beginning of the third quarter. Everything else was very good and I'm happy with my players. Congratulations to Efes because they played very well. Nikic is very clever and he is better and better every time. He has a lot of talent and he did very well today. I am very happy with Hermannsson because he tries to improve every time. We need him playing '1' because of injuries and he is improving a lot. Defense for him is difficult, but he is doing very well and he is adapting to playing a lot of minutes at '1'. I hope he goes on improving because he has the ambition to do it. We must realize that we are playing a lot of games which is very difficult for our team with the injuries we are having. Our fans must be happy with the team because we are playing with good focus and intensity."
ATAMAN, ERGIN
Anadolu Efes Istanbul

"In the second quarter, we made a lot of turnovers against a trapping ALBA team. They improved their aggressivity and we made turnovers in offense and gave up in defense. But we talked about the situation with the press and started the second half very well. We attacked perfect and used Moerman inside very well and then we kept control of the game. We know ALBA never gives up and it’s an important victory. We knew it would be difficult. Micic made some extra turnovers, but he controlled the game very well, scoring and assists, and Rodrigue [Beaubois] scored some important points."

"In the first quarter, we played fantastic and moved the ball very well. We gave them a chance to come back, but in the third quarter, we started again playing perfect, moved the ball well on the high post and continued to play good basketball even though ALBA continued to play an aggressive trapping game. Pleiss and Moerman played great in their position and it’s one more victory for us. Last week in Munich and this week in Berlin we had great support from Turkish people and it was an honor for us. I’d like to say thank you to all our people and thank you also to the home clubs that they gave the chance for our people to get tickets. There was a fair play atmosphere in both arenas and I think that’s very important."

Players

NIKIC, KRESIMIR
ALBA Berlin
"It was tough. I played a lot of minutes because Landry got the first 2 fouls. But I was ready and whenever I play I try to give 100%. I played way more than usual, so some minutes were hard, but it was a good experience for all of us. We kept trying to come back and that was the most important thing, never give up and try to keep the same energy. Tibor Pleiss is highly skilled, he’s a really good player and I can learn from playing against him. I grew up watching these guys so I'm grateful to play against them."
MICIC, VASILIJE
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
"The key was to stay focused for 40 minutes. ALBA are playing maybe the most beautiful game in the EuroLeague and they showed that in the second quarter. We responded very well in their three-key zone in the third quarter; we saw that very well and I’m very happy that we won today because everybody knows how difficult it is to play here. Coach told us to stay focused, they were playing very fast in the second quarter and it's not easy to match up to their pace. But we played smarter in the second half and I think all the guys showed great character and that’s something we have to show every game. I never feel pressure, I'm so happy to be part of a team that has so much talent. I had a lot of turnovers, which is maybe a lack of concentration, but I'm happy that Rodrigue [Beaubois] played well even though he had foul problems. Tibor [Pleiss] also had a great game."
PLEISS, TIBOR
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
"It’s important that we shared the points and that makes our team special that we have a lot of players who can score. [Playing in Germany] is definitely special for me, it’s always amazing to come home and I get respect from the home fans as well which is a good feeling. I have the chance to see my family and friends, so it’s amazing."