After back-to-back defeats, the Turkish side turned things around in the French capital
Shane Larkin leads from the front to inspire Efes past Paris
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 7 of 38
Regular Season
Paris BasketballPBB
8090
Anadolu Efes IstanbulEFS
Overview
l
w
l
w
w
w
l
l
w
l
The last couple of games have been rough for Anadolu Efes Istanbul, but the two-time EuroLeague champion was able to get back on the right path in Round 7 after beating Paris Basketball 80-90 on the road.
Plenty of excitement surrounded Efes following its 78-82 triumph at Olympiacos Piraeus in Round 4, particularly as coach Igor Kokoskov’s men had two straight home games coming up. However, its Round 5 clash against Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens was marred by the ACL injury suffered by center Georgios Papagiannis, then Round 6 saw Efes fall to Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in the Istanbul derby. That made Tuesday night’s clash at Paris a must-win.
“To get a win tonight feels really well. We’ve had a lot of turmoil, a lot of obstacles in our way this season, but at the end of the day no one’s going to make excuses for us,” admitted star guard Shane Larkin when talking to EuroLeague TV after the game. “The fact that we were able to come together, even when Coach gets kicked out the game, we were able to pull together and get a big win.”
It was Larkin who really helped Efes get over the line. With Paris starting to find some momentum, the two-time All-EuroLeague guard stepped up in the fourth quarter, helping Efes go from being up eight (63-71) to up 17 after scoring nine straight points.
First was a long two (63-73), then the classic Larkin change of pace before a finger-roll layup (63-75), followed by a push shot (63-77), and a three-pointer (63-80). In just over two minutes, Larkin took over and put Efes in a commanding position.
There was the expected response from Paris, largely through the on-fire Sebastian Herrera and the misfiring Nadir Hifi, who was 2 for 16 from the field but 13 for 13 from the free-throw line, yet Efes had a big enough lead that it never really felt in doubt.
“Being able to play well on the road is important in the EuroLeague,” added Larkin. “Being able to get road wins is challenging because the home crowds are always tough.
“I think nine of our first 13 games are road games, so the more we can win on the road and start the season in a strong stretch, it benefits us in the long run. Congrats to the team for pulling together in a tough game and tough atmosphere and getting the win.”
Efes is now 2-1 on the road this season and next faces Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain on Friday, which sees Larkin return to the club where he made his EuroLeague debut in 2016-17. Paris will hope for a quick response when it travels to take on EA7 Emporio Armani Milan on Thursday.
