A 13-minute stretch in the second half saw the defending champs pull away
Talen Horton-Tucker, Fenerbahce continue to climb, plow through Baskonia
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 24 of 38
Regular Season
Fenerbahce Beko IstanbulFBB
8471
Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-GasteizKBA
Overview
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Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul kept its foot on the gas Friday night, climbing to sole possession of second place in the standings after running past visiting Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, 84–71.
The reigning champions remained red-hot, proving that a road loss against Dubai Basketball two weeks ago was just a hiccup. The team is on another winning streak, this time with three in a row. Prior to this, Fenerbahce was on a six-game winning streak in November and early December, before following it with four consecutive wins in late December and early January.
Overall, the team has won 13 of its last 15 games.
Friday’s final score speaks very little about the game, which was a back-and-forth affair in the first quarter, and Baskonia trailed by just one point at 42-41 early in the third. But that’s when Fenerbahce stepped up on both ends of the floor.
The defending champs went on a 13-0 run, courtesy of 7 points by Nando De Colo and 6 from Talen Horton-Tucker. Then Tarik Biberovic and Wade Baldwin joined the fun, and the margin was 69-50 after three quarters, then 81-53 early in the fourth.
Over that span of more than 13 minutes, Fenerbahce scored 39 points while its league-best scoring defense allowed just 12.
“The way [coach Sarunas Jasikevicius] is on us, you would not think we are the best defensive team in the EuroLeague,” said Horton-Tucker, who paced Fenerbahce once again with 21 points and 8 rebounds.
“I feel all good team need that, and the way he continues to hold us accountable, hold us to a high standard is super-important if you want to win the championship.”
Living up to the billing, Jasikevicius was quick to point out things that could not satisfy him.
“We played a game where we were giving up incredible amount of cheap points, and we had 20 turnovers”, he said, before finding the positives.
“To have 20 turnovers in a EuroLeague game and win comfortably, I hope that is showing our potential.
“The second part of the season, everything is so important. We need to get better at details. It is much better to get better at details when you are watching a video after a win, in a positive way.”
The Lithuanian play-caller who guided Fenerbahce to the EuroLeague crown last season, and has led FC Barcelona and Zalgiris Kauans to Final Fours in the past, certainly knows the recipe, and it lines up exactly with what Horton-Tucker is striving for, too:
“[The goal] is to get to the top,” he said. “They won everything last year, so I want to be a part of something like that, too. That is my ultimate goal.”
