2019-20Regular SeasonRound 1
Anadolu Efes Istanbul 64
FC Barcelona 74
October 04, 2019 CET: 19:30
Local time: 20:30 SINAN ERDEM SPORTS HALL.

Mirotic stars as Barca gets revenge vs. Efes

FC Barcelona stepped strong into the new season with a 64-74 road win over last season's runner-up, Anadolu Efes Istanbul, on Friday. The victory avenged Barcelona's loss in Game 5 of the playoffs at the Sinan Erdem Dome last spring, which sent Efes to the Final Four. Nikola Mirotic celebrated his Turkish Airlines EuroLeague return with 24 points for Barcelona, hitting 4 of 8 shots from downtown. Malcolm Delaney excelled with 11 points and 7 assists, while Brandon Davies scored 10 to go with 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Efes got 16 points from its new power forward, Alec Peters, who nailed 4 of 5 triples. Vasilije Micic added 14 points and Tibor Pleiss 13 for the hosts. Efes led early but 6 points in a row by Mirotic gave Barcelona the lead for good, even if Efes trimmed a 16-point difference after halftime to 46-49 at the end of three quarters. Delaney, Ante Tomic and Pierre Oriola on a 0-7 run to open the fourth quarter that Efes never came back from.

A second-chance triple by Peters opened the scoring, but soon Corey Higgins and Adam Hanga matched him to make it 5-8. Peters would strike again before Mirotic forced in a pair of layups. He then downed free throws to push Barcelona in front, 14-16. Delaney added 3 free throws to that lead to end the first quarter and a triple to open the second at 14-22, before Pleiss snapped Barcelona's 0-10 run. Only Pleiss could score for Efes, whose three-point troubles showed just 2 of 17 tries made by then while Barcleona's lead climbed to 20-31. Although Efes righted itself briefly, Davies and Victor Claver restored a double-digit Barcelona advantage, 26-37, at halftime. Barcelona kept it going with the first 5 points after the break. Mirotic added his own 7 in a row to make it 37-49, but another Peters triple woke up the crowd. Toga Gecim followed from deep for Efes,, then Bryant Dunston and Chris Singleton added free throws to make it 46-49 at the end of 30 minutes after a 20-7 Efes run. Delaney, Oriola and Tomic gave a Barcelona 0-7 start and a new double-digit lead, 46-56, early in the fourth. Peters and Mirotic traded triples at 51-61. Soon enough, though, Delaney's pull-up three made it 53-66 with 3 minutes left, and when Mirotic went deep shortly after, the game was firmly in Barcelona's hands.

Pivotal performer

Mirotic didn't merely have a game-high 24 points, but his timing was great. He scored 6 in a row to give Barcelona the lead late in the first quarter. And then 7 more in succession to keep it that way after halftime. He was also active on defense with 2 blocks and 4 rebounds for a PIR of 22.

Game-changing moment

When Efes rallied from 16 down to within 46-49, three were still 3 minutes left in the third quarter. Not only did its momentum stop there, as neither team scored in that time, but Barcelona came out with a 0-7 run in the fourth as its defense held Efes scoreless for 7 minutes total, deciding the game.

Missing in action

Efes was missing three of the team's top three scorers last season due to injury: playoffs and Final Four star Shane Larkin, at point guard; speedy Rodrigue Beaubois at the wing; and heady Adrien Moerman at powre forward.

Did you notice?

The game featured a grand total of just 12 free throw attempts. Barcelona made 5 for 5 at the line and Efes 6 of 7. Barcelona had only shot fewer than 5 free throws four times this century before, and Efes fewer than 7 just five times.

Next games

Efes stays at home for Round 2 to welcome ALBA Berlin for their first game since 2013. Meanwhile, Barcelona stays on the road to play its first game ever against Zenit St Petersburg.

Nikola Mirotic - FC Barcelona - EB19
Friday, October 4, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: RYZHYK, BORYS; BOLTAUZER, MATEJ; PATERNICO, CARMELO
Attendance: 11580
By Quarter1234
Anadolu Efes Istanbul14122018
FC Barcelona19181225
End of Quarter1234
Anadolu Efes Istanbul14264664
FC Barcelona19374974
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 SINGLETON, CHRIS 13:21 2   0/3 2/2 1 1 2 1   1       2 3
4 BALBAY, DOGUS 30:37 7 2/3 1/2   2 4 6 3 1 1     1 2 15
8 GECIM, TOLGA 13:57 3 0/3 1/5   1 1 2 3   1     1 1  
10 ILYASOGLU, OMERCAN 3:09     0/1     1 1     1         -1
15 SANLI, SERTAC DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 TUNCER, BUGRAHAN 6:04 2 1/3 0/1         2         3 1 -1
21 PLEISS, TIBOR 10:03 13 5/6 0/1 3/3 2 1 3     1       3 16
22 MICIC, VASILIJE 32:27 14 1/3 4/13     3 3 5 1 3   2 2 5 10
23 ANDERSON, JAMES 17:13   0/1 0/6     4 4     1     1   -5
25 PETERS, ALEC 26:55 16 2/2 4/5   1 3 4 1         3 2 19
42 DUNSTON, BRYANT 33:53 7 3/10   1/2 4 5 9 2 1 1 2 2 4 1 7
44 SIMON, KRUNOSLAV 12:21   0/1 0/2         1 1     1   1 -1
Team           2 1 3               3
Totals 200:00 64 14/32 10/39 6/7 13 24 37 18 4 10 2 5 15 18 65
        43.8% 25.6% 85.7%
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
FC Barcelona
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 DAVIES, BRANDON 23:43 10 5/7 0/1   2 3 5 4 1 2 2   1   16
8 HANGA, ADAM 21:03 5 1/2 1/4   2 4 6 3   2 1   1 1 9
10 SMITS, ROLANDS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
18 ORIOLA, PIERRE 14:10 8 1/2 2/2   1 2 3   1 2     1   8
21 ABRINES, ALEX 13:00     0/1     4 4 1   1         3
22 HIGGINS, CORY 23:24 3 0/7 1/2   1 1 2 3 2     1 2 1  
23 DELANEY, MALCOLM 21:05 11 1/2 2/6 3/3   3 3 7 1 2     4 5 16
24 KURIC, KYLE 14:28   0/2 0/2   1 2 3 1   1       1  
30 CLAVER, VICTOR 27:00 7 2/3 1/1   1 3 4 2 1 1     3 1 10
31 BOLMARO, LEANDRO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
33 MIROTIC, NIKOLA 25:50 24 5/8 4/8 2/2   4 4     2 2 1 3 5 22
44 TOMIC, ANTE 16:17 6 3/4     1 4 5   2       3 1 10
Team           2 3 5     1         4
Totals 200:00 74 18/37 11/27 5/5 11 33 44 21 8 14 5 2 18 15 98
        48.6% 40.7% 100%
Head coach: PESIC, SVETISLAV

Head Coaches

ATAMAN, ERGIN
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
"They made good defense against Micci with Hanga. And they stopped our pick-and-roll offense in the first half. We missed shots. Second half, Micic came back to the game and started to score and create our pick-and-roll offense. We had a lot of chance to get back in the game, but three-point shots. Of the 29 that we missed, 20 were open shots with good assists. We didn't find our tempo. Last season, I don't remember scoring 64 points in a game, especially at home. We scored 85 points. With 64 it's impossible to win the game. On defense, we played good and worked hard, but Mirotic made the difference. He's a great player. He found very important shots for his points, and with a low-scoring game, that was very important. So congratulations to Barcelona and we will see the next game."
PESIC, SVETISLAV
FC Barcelona
"Important game, to win against Efes. That always brings a good mood in the first game. Both teams showed they need time. They don't have all the players. But Efes gave their maximum. I think we improved our boxing out and controlled the defensive rebounds in the second half, and that gave us some confidence to take some three-pointers from outside. That was very important and decided the game."

Players

MIROTIC, NIKOLA
FC Barcelona

"First of all, I felt great. Very excited obviously to be back. I was looking forward to that first game, and today against Efes was a big day for us, a very challenging game. We know it would be hard to beat them. They had some injuries today, but I think we played a very good and very complete game, especially defensively. For me, individually, the most important thing is the win.

"The good thing about this roster is that we have a very deep team, which means that everyone can score 20-plus points. If one day it's me, another day it's Corey or Malcolm, so we just need to find our roles to play with patience. It's a long season, we're going to need everybody. We just need to stay healthy, be patient and work hard."