Three days after lifting the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague crown, Anadolu Efes Istanbul got back to domestic action, winning a deciding game of their Turkish League playoff quarterfinals series. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul won its best-of-five semifinals opener.
Domestic leagues: Efes moves into Turkish semis
Turkey: Champs move into semis
Efes defeated the visiting Pinar Karsiyaka 83-68 to win their best-of-three series 2-1, and reach the semifinals where it will play Galatasaray Istanbul. Efes jumped in front early on, behind Vasilije Micic, Elijah Bryant and Tibor Pleiss. Latter of which made it 29-18 at the start of the second quarter, but Karsiyaka replied with a 0-7 run. Larkin's triple opened 39-30 late in the second quarter, but Alex Tyus and Tony Taylor helped Karsiyaka cut it to 45-42 at halftime. The visitors tied the game soon in the second half and Efes kept a slim margin until the fourth quarter when Larkin strung together 8 points, including back-to-back three-pointers to open 72-61. Back-to-back threes from Micic and Rodrigue Beaubois opened 78-65 with 2:17 to go, sealing the deal. Micic finished with 18 points and 8 assists, and Larkin also scored 18 in a victory. Pleiss and Bryant scored 13 apiece for Efes. Michael Roll led Karsiyaka with 17 points.
While Efes made it to the semis, Fenerbahce opened its semifinal series by beating Darussafaka Istanbul 94-69. Jan Vesely, Sehmus Hazer and Nando De Colo fueled a 7-0 run that opened a double-digit lead, 42-31, in the second quarter. The visitors cut it to 47-40 at halftime, and got within 52-50 in the third. But Jan Vesely and Marko Guduric kept Fenerbahce in front with a 6-0 run, then Devin Booker hit a triple before Melih Mahmutoglou and Pierria Henry scored to open 66-52 margin. Ismet Akpinar hit one triple to end the scoring in the third quarter, and one to open the scoring in the fourth, extending the margin to 75-56 as Fenerbahce cruised the rest of the way. Mahmutoglou finished with 14 points, while Henry had 10 points, 8 assists and 4 steals. Vesely collected 10 points plus 6 rebounds and Ahmet Duveriouglu 10 points and 6 assists in a victory.