The Turkish side had its best-ever offensive performance in Friday's win over Baskonia
Records rained for Fenerbahce on Friday night
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Regular Season
Round 27 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius admitted he was not sure what he was going to get from his players against Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz.
Following a break due to the FIBA window, which saw Turkish Airlines EuroLeague players representing their countries just a few days ago, it was normal that there was a bit of uncertainty coming into Round 27.
"These situations are a little bit strange. You give the guys a few days off and they disconnect, some guys go to their national team, and we get back together two days before the game", Jasikevicius said. "Everybody was really excited to play, and it showed on the offensive end."
Fenerbahce caught fire on offense
It proved to work a treat for Fenerbahce — on offense at least. The Turkish side set a new club scoring record in an 111-96 win against Baskonia, while it also dished 32 assists. Fenerbahce's previous record highs were 109 points and 29 assists.
Coach Jasikevicius's charges also started the game by hitting their first 8 three-point shots before finishing the night 19-of-34 from long range, just one three-pointer shy of another club record. All that came with just 6 turnovers.
"We were not so good on the defensive end, but that's most likely why we have so many records", Jasikevicius joked after the game.
Biberovic, Sestina made a big impact
Two guys off the bench came up big on the night, too.
Tarik Biberovic went 5-for-5 from long range in the third quarter and finished with 17 points, while Nate Sestina scored 14 points in 14:28 on the floor, having hit 4-of-6 triples.
"I always tell Tarik he's got a top-four prettiest jumper on planet Earth, and Nate's been doing fantastic", forward Nigel Hayes-Davis glowingly remarked about his teammates.
Hayes-David paced all scorers with 19 points, but the lead man in the performance was veteran playmaker Nick Calathes, who had 11 points and 12 assists. The all-time leader in assists also had 2 steals, which saw him tie former teammate Dimitris Diamantidis atop the all-time steals charts. They both now have 434 steals.
And while Calathes has remained humbled about the feat that will come with his next steal, his teammate Hayes-Davis was not hiding his excitement about his teammate.
"He is amazing. I've said it a million times to a million people: [he's] the greatest point guard in European basketball history. I compared him to a European John Stockton. A leader in assists and an eventual leader in steals. He is fantastic, [I] love playing with him."
An exciting performance saw Fenerbahce improve to a 16-11 record, with the team well positioned to fight for a top-six finish and home-court advantage in the playoffs. There are just seven regular-season rounds to go, so it should be a thrilling end to the campaign for Fenerbahce supporters.