2020-21Regular SeasonRound 28
Anadolu Efes Istanbul 100
CSKA Moscow 70
March 04, 2021 CET: 18:30
Local time: 20:30 SINAN ERDEM SPORTS HALL.

Efes dominates CSKA for 6th straight win

Anadolu Efes Istanbul remained one of the hottest teams in the EuroLeague with a 100-70 domination of CSKA Moscow at Sinan Erdem Sports Hall on Thursday. Vasilije Micic collected 21 points for Efes, which won its sixth straight game and its ninth in its last 10 to improve to 17-10. Sertac Sanli scored 14 points, Chris Singleton had 12 and Shane Larkin, Rodrigue Beaubois and Krunoslav Simon netted 11 in what was just the second Efes win in the last 13 matchups with CSKA - including the 2019 championship game. CSKA, which had won the first game against Efes this season at home by 35 points, dropped to 18-9 despite Toko Shengelia scoring 14 points and Johannes Voigtmann chipping in 10 points.

Sanli opened the game with a dunk and it was 4-0 before Joel Bolomboy got CSKA on the board. Beaubois added a second layup and Sanli and Micic both hit three-pointers as the hosts went up 15-4. Despite a third dunk by Bolomboy, Efes did not let up with Adrien Moerman scoring six points in a 10-0 surge to build a 25-6 advantage. A Singleton triple gave Efes a 20-point lead. Daniel Hackett hit from deep to get CSKA within 31-13 after 10 minutes. Efes continued the onslaught in the second quarter with James Anderson and Larkin hitting three-pointers to book-end a 12-2 start and a 43-15 margin. Two Singleton foul shots extended the cushion to 30 points. CSKA finally started to produce a bit more efficiently on offense with 5 points from Shengelia, but Efes was still rolling 55-28 at the break.

Hackett opened the second half for the visitors with Sanli answering with a dunk. Larkin and Micic both had 2 free throws after a foul and ejection of Hackett to get the lead to 61-32. Iffe Lundberg came on for Hackett and scored 5 points and Mike James scored his only 5 points of the game, but CSKA was still down 67-42. Efes kept CSKA scoreless for more than 3 minutes and Beaubois made it 73-42. The advantage was 75-45 after 30 minutes. After Bryant Dunston’s three-point play opened the final frame, CSKA put together a run of 2-13 with 2 three-pointers from Voigtmann and a triple from Darrun Hilliard to pull within 80-58. Efes just did not stop though as Singleton, Micic, Simon and Larkin all drained three-pointers and the margin grew to 97-64. Efes tried to avenge the 35-point loss from earlier this season it had to settle for a 30-point win.

Historic futility for CSKA

CSKA’s first-quarter deficit of 18 points (31-13) was the worst ever recorded by the club in a EuroLeague quarter. The previous worst had been 17 points in the third-place game at the 2003-04 Final Four against Montepaschi Siena. CSKA trailed by 27 points at halftime, setting another low mark as the club’s previous worst difference at halftime was 23 points.

Leading scorer James held in check

The league’s leading scorer Mike James was held in check by Efes as the CSKA guard was held to just 5 points on 1-of-9 field goal shooting and 2-of-2 on free throws. He had scored in double figures in his last 18 games and 48 of the last 49.

Telling numbers

Efes shot a blistering 74.2% on two-pointers while forcing CSKA into 19 turnovers. Efes also held the guests to just 28.6% efficieny from long range.

Next games

CSKA will play at home again after four straight road games with a home date against AX Armani Exchange Milan on Thursday, March 11. Efes will remain at home for its third straight game in Istanbul when it hosts Zalgiris Kaunas the next day.

Vasilije Micic - Anadolu Efes Istanbul - EB20
Thursday, March 4, 2021
Euroleague.net
Referees: PUKL,SASA; GARCIA, JUAN CARLOS; BISSANG, JOSEPH
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
Anadolu Efes Istanbul31242025
CSKA Moscow13151725
End of Quarter1234
Anadolu Efes Istanbul315575100
CSKA Moscow13284570
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 29:08 11 1/2 2/5 3/3   2 2 2   4       2 9
1 BEAUBOIS, RODRIGUE 17:52 11 4/4 1/2     1 1 2 1 2         12
2 SINGLETON, CHRIS 19:59 12   2/4 6/6         2       3 4 13
4 BALBAY, DOGUS 0:39                              
15 SANLI, SERTAC 27:33 14 5/5 1/2 1/2 1 2 3 3 2 1 2   3 1 19
18 MOERMAN, ADRIEN 20:01 8 4/6 0/3   3 4 7 1   1     2 2 10
19 TUNCER, BUGRAHAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 PLEISS, TIBOR DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
22 MICIC, VASILIJE 35:06 21 3/7 2/7 9/10   6 6 8 3 3     4 8 29
23 ANDERSON, JAMES 7:24 3   1/2     4 4 2             8
42 DUNSTON, BRYANT 12:13 9 3/4   3/3 1 1 2 1   1     3 2 9
44 SIMON, KRUNOSLAV 30:05 11 3/3 1/2 2/2 2 2 4 4   2       2 18
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 100 23/31 10/27 24/26 8 24 32 23 8 14 2 0 15 21 130
        74.2% 37% 92.3%
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
CSKA Moscow
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 LUNDBERG, IFFE 20:50 7 2/5 1/2   1 1 2   2 3     3 1 2
3 BOLOMBOY, JOEL 22:10 8 3/3   2/4 1 2 3   1 1     1 2 10
5 JAMES, MIKE 25:14 5 0/4 1/5 2/2       8   2       2 5
6 HILLIARD, DARRUN 15:31 7 2/4 1/2   1 2 3   1 2       1 7
10 HACKETT, DANIEL 10:22 7 2/2 1/2     1 1 2   2     5 1 3
11 ANTONOV, SEMEN 4:05   0/1 0/1                   1   -3
13 STRELNIEKS, JANIS 12:30 5 1/1 1/3     1 1 1         2 1 4
17 VOIGTMANN, JOHANNES 19:24 10 2/2 2/5   1 2 3 3 1 2     2 1 11
21 CLYBURN, WILL 20:53 4 2/3 0/3   3 3 6 1 1 2     4 2 4
23 SHENGELIA, TORNIKE 24:16 14 5/9 1/4 1/4 2 3 5 3 2 5   1 1 3 10
41 KURBANOV, NIKITA 17:36 3 1/1 0/1 1/2 2 1 3           3 1 2
50 ERIC, MICHAEL 7:09   0/1                   1     -2
Team           3 1 4               4
Totals 200:00 70 20/36 8/28 6/12 14 17 31 18 8 19 0 2 22 15 57
        55.6% 28.6% 50%
Head coach: ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS

Head Coaches

ATAMAN, ERGIN
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
"We played another perfect game. The last three or four games we have played perfectly. We have not just found the same level as last year, we are better than last year. About the game, we started excellently. We scored more than 30 points in the first 10 minutes. We built a 20-point lead. After that, we tried one of the biggest challenges in the EuroLeague - to beat them by 35. Earlier in the season we were missing many players and had many problems and we lost by a huge difference. We didn’t stop playing - that was important for us. To reach 35 or 36 points, that was just a challenge. But it was important for us to not stop playing because in the EuroLeague there are many games when a team leads by 20 or 25 and the other team comes back. We talked about this challenge with the players at halftime. And everybody played great basketball and great defense. On offense, we moved the ball. We showed great character tonight. We had a very bad time in Moscow three months ago when we lost against them. But we had a two or three-hour meeting in Moscow after the game and I saw that character tonight. It’s very important for our future, for our goal this season in the EuroLeague."
ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
CSKA Moscow
"Congratulations to Efes. They were the much better team, they deserved to win. We competed a little in the second half. Obviously, it was not enough. It was obvious that they wanted to get back at us and revenge the 35-point loss from Moscow. At least we were able to not give up that margin - if that is something. As a leader, I am taking all of the responsibility for this game. We will only get better from it. To see it more calmly, from three road games we were able to get two wins. It’s not the way to lose, definitely. It’s actually the biggest margin of loss since I have taken over the great club of CSKA. But like I said, this will motivate us even more and will give us an extra reason why we have to become better each and every day."

Players

MICIC, VASILIJE
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
"We knew what happened in Moscow. We learned a lot from that game. In my opinion, they are one of the best teams in the EuroLeague with such a talented team. But at the same time, today we showed our great potential - defensively and offensively. When we step on the court and show our aggressiveness on defense, we send a message to the opponent. Of course, we are going to make some mistakes, that is normal. But if you have desire, it’s easier to handle that pressure and some mistakes. From the beginning, when Rodrigue [Beaubois] stole that ball, I felt that we had that energy. That was very important for us."
SIMON, KRUNOSLAV
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
“It’s teamwork. In the first half, we showed maybe the best half I have seen in my career. We really showed the example of how to play as a team. All of the players enjoyed being on the court. We played hard on defense, we shared the ball and the result is there. But it’s only one victory. We need to continue like this.”