Anadolu Efes 86-79 Barça: Defeat in Turkey

The third period was the decisive one in Istanbul and Barça have lost to Anadolu Efes (86-79). It was all square at the break (43-43), but the 25-11 in the third left Jasikevicius’ facing an uphill struggle that they couldn’t complete.

It had all looked so different when Barça stormed to +10 (12-22, min 9), and it wasn’t until the second period that the home side truly found their own touch. In fact, a 12-2 streak suddenly had the hosts leading (34-33, min 17), and absolutely nothing was settled at the interval.

But Barça lost their pattern after the restart. And 18-4 from the Turks had them trailing by 13, and things had not improved by the end of the period (68-54).

Defensive intensity and sharper shooting clawed the Catalans back into the game, and with four minutes to play there was some hope when the deficit was reduced to eight (77-69, min 36). Anadolu Efes went for five possessions without scoring and at 83-79 with 15 seconds left we were in for a nail-biting finale. But the home side found what they needed to hang on, and Barça have tumbled to a second successive defeat in the Euroleague.

MATCH STATS

Anadolu Efes: Simon (16), Dunston (12), Anderson (5), Micic (17), Moerman (5),  Larkin (23), Beaubois (2), Singleton (-) & Sanli (6). 

Barça: Calathes (15), Abrines (6), Higgins (14), Mirotic (18), Pustovyi (2), Hanga (6), Bolmaro (2), Smits (6), Oriola (8), Sergi Martínez (-) & Kuric (2). 

Periods: 18-24 / 25-19 / 25-11 / 18-25