Its second road win in elimination games in as many weeks, this one in epic comeback fashion, has Besiktas headed to the semifinals.
Besiktas made history by getting back to basics
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Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul pulled off the biggest comeback in the club's history in the BKT EuroCup Quarterfinals to eliminate higher-ranked Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
Despite boasting the fourth-best defense in the competition with an average 80.3 points conceded before the game, the Turkish side allowed Hapoel to score 57 points by halftime. Hapoel's biggest lead of the game came at 47-26 with 3:54 left in the second quarter. It was clear at halftime that many things needed to be changed by Besiktas to keep any hope of making the semifinals alive.
What followed after the break was a scenario that even the most optimistic Besiktas fan may have struggled to imagine.
Physicality and aggressiveness were key
The Turkish side outscored Hapoel 19-29 in the third quarter and held their opponents to 13 points in the fourth to clinch a glorious victory at the Avia Solutions Group Arena in Vilnius.
"[After the break] we changed our mentality," said Matthew Mitchell, who scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half. "[In the first half] we came out and played kind of soft. We were afraid to foul, afraid to slow down their pace. A few of us got in foul trouble early and things just kind of snowballed from there. So, we came out in the second half and just had a whole new outlook. We tried to play the game like it was 0-0 and just kept playing at 100% percent and it worked in our favor tonight."
Inspired by head coach Dusan Alimpijevic, who now boasts a sublime 5-2 record in EuroCup elimination games, all of which were played on the road, Besiktas bounced back in style after the break. After the game, Alimpijevic labelled Besiktas's second half against Hapoel as "one of the best in my coaching career" and attributed it to his players' ability to dig deep and get back to factory settings.
"To come back after trailing by 20 and to play this way in the second half is something really special," he said in the post-game flash interview. "We just came back to our basics. Our basics are physicality, character and being aggressive. For sure that's not what we had in the first half, so we just came back to what we've been so far. I'm really proud of my team. A special group of people."
Anatomy of a comeback
At halftime, Hapoel was on its way to reach its average of 96.1 points, which is the second-best mark in the competition. Meanwhile, Besiktas's defense couldn't find ways to contain an extraordinary Will Cummings. The Hapoel guard finished the game with 28 points, 5 rebounds and 7 drawn fouls for a PIR of 32 points, but he managed to score just 3 points in the closing quarter. That's when Besiktas tightened up its defense and dominated the boards to impose its game on Hapoel, dictate the tempo and record an 89-94 victory.
"It was an amazing game," Alimpijevic said in the post-game press conference. "This is something that the EuroCup needs. I think that their biggest lead was by 21 points at some point. So at halftime we talked about this, and we talked about how we want to say goodbye to the EuroCup. Is this what we are, what we were and what we'll be in the future? So, it was very simple. We had to go out, fight, show some character and dignity, and play what is our game. And our game is this: 19 and 13 points [conceded] in the third and fourth quarter [respectively]. Our game is 18 offensive rebounds. Our game is that character that we showed."
'We live for playoff moments'
A Besiktas side that finished sixth in Group A with a 9-9 record has managed to pull some huge upsets on the way to the semifinals. First came a victory away at Paris Basketball in 63-68 in Round 8. This remains Paris's only EuroCup defeat so far this season. Then, came a 78-80 road win to eliminate defending champion Dreamland Gran Canaria from the eighthfinals. And now, Alimpijevic has led his men to yet another incredible triumph thanks to an epic comeback.
"I'm very proud of us," Mitchell said. "In critical moments of the season where we found ourselves not having a rhythm, we found a way to come together and win big games. I think we live for playoff moments and big games like this."
What comes next is a best-of-three matchup against a Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse side that has recorded just one home loss this season. The first game will take place in France, but then the Besiktas fans will have an opportunity to experience a EuroCup Semifinal clash at the Besiktas Akatlar Sports & Events Hall. Having already led Frutti Extra Bursaspor to the finals in 2022, when he was voted EuroCup Coach of the Year, Alimpijevic will now see if he can get there again, only this time with the benefit of one home game.
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