Barça have been beaten for the first time this calendar year and it happened in Istanbul, at the home of Anadolu Efes (98-74). Although the first half was a tight affair, the Turks found the accelerator in the third period and Barça will now need to pick themselves up in Sunday's league game with Covirán Granada.
Former Barça man Tibor Pleiss was one of the standout players, especially early on, and his 8 points had a lot to do with the 5-point lead that Anadolu Efes had built up by the end of the first period.
A 7-0 streak for Barça quickly got them back in contention in the second, with Jokubaitis and Hernangómez both making big contributions to the turnaround, and although the Turks did have an 11-3 spree, Barça were picking up enough points to make sure as was still to play for in the second half:
But that's when things started to go pear-shaped. Darío Brizuela was outstanding in this phase, but Anadolu Efes capitalised on a moment of blaugrana uncertainty to post a 10-0 streak that would ultimately prove decisive.
A series of Turkish 2+1 in the final period meant that whatever Barça did, Efes topped it, and following a run of six consecutive wins, Barça had suffered their first loss of 2024.
MATCH STATS
Anadolu Efes, 98
Barça, 74
Anadolu Efes: Larkin (15), Bryant (6), Willis (6), Thompson (7), Pleiss (17), Beaubois (21), Oturu (16), Clyburn (5), Daum (3), Jones (2), Oncel (0), Gazi (-)
Barça: Satoransky (3), Brizuela (9), Kalinic (14), Parker (8), Vesely (6), Jokubaitis (14), Hernangómez (18), Da Silva (2), Parra, Paulí (-), Sarr (-), Jakucionis (-)
Period: 18-13, 24-26 // 30-21, 26-14
Referees: Tomislav Hordov, Ioannis Foufis, Vasiliki Tsaroucha
