This is what the protagonists had to say after the Round 33 showdown between Anadolu Efes Istanbul and ALBA Berlin.
Post-game quotes: Efes vs. ALBA



Anadolu Efes Istanbul head coach Ergin Ataman:
"We are tired. I am tired, also, very tired. It was a very difficult game. Before the game, we knew that ALBA Berlin is a very strong team, but in the first half, we didn't play good. So we made a lot of mistakes, a lot of turnovers, and went down 15 points. Also in the beginning of the second half, we didn't start well and it is not easy for us, in our system, to play without players that have a big contribution like Micic and Beaubois. So we got a lot of effort from Larkin. He made a great game tonight, taking great responsibilities. And the second player was Elijah Bryant - he really helped in our offense. OK, the other guys put great hustle, Bryant Dunston with his blocks. We put great hustle and found the way to win the game. It was a very difficult game for us. Now we reached one of our goals, to play the playoffs. We will see the next two games and in which position we will finish the regular season. Without Micic and Beaubois in our system, Larkin was the only player who could open the door. If he didn't play like this, we would have lost the game. He didn't start the game well, missed a lot of shots, made turnovers, but we need him and give him responsibilities and confidence, and he played a great second half. Of course, Bryant played a great game. He stopped Maodo Lo on defense and on offense, he made a great contribution."
ALBA Berlin head coach Israel Gonzalez:
"I am happy with the game that we have done. Of course, I am not happy with the defeat but I think we have to be proud of the basketball that we played tonight. Of course, Efes's quality, especially in the key moment, is a lot. Congratulations to Efes because they played very well at the end."
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Anadolu Efes Istanbul guard Shane Larkin:
"We had some players out, Vasa [Vasilije Micic] was out, Rodri [Rodrigue Beaubois] was out, so I just tried to step up and help the team in any way that I could, and it just went in my favor tonight. We just had to settle in - missing two of our most important players, some new guys had to take different roles. Elijah Bryant was amazing tonight. It took us a while to find our rhythm and get into what we needed to do today. And when we eventually found our rhythm, we started to put some intensity on defense, started playing our basketball, getting down in transition, and got a big win. I just do whatever I can to help this team. Vasa is another guy that drives to the basket a lot, gets fouls, finds guys and scores points. I had to do a little bit more driving today and just help my team. It doesn't really matter about one guy, we all stepped up. We all had to play more minutes than we usually do, with two of our most important players out, and this is a big team win for us."
Anadolu Efes Istanbul forward Elijah Bryant:
"I felt comfortable. I knew we had some guys out so I had to be a little bit more aggressive tonight. So I just tried to find my rhythm in the second half and attack, do something to help the team win. I think [playing more minutes] gave me a little bit of a longer list to miss a few shots, maybe have a few mistakes, get out there and catch the rhythm. "