Shane Larkin heated up late and then took over to lead Anadolu Efes Istanbul to a Game 3 victory over AX Armani Exchange Milan.
Larkin's late flourish put the game on ice
For much of the game, it seemed like Tibor Pleiss could be Efes’s hero. The center scored 8 points in 7 minutes in the first quarter to help Efes take control early and he finished as the team’s No. 2 scorer on the night with 17 points. Pleiss even scored the go-ahead three-point play in the fourth quarter.
Despite Pleiss's strong performance, when the game was on the line, it was Shane Larkin time. And Pleiss knows why.
“Dangerous guy,” Pleiss said of Larkin after the game. “Don’t leave him open! He’s an amazing player. It’s really tough to stop him when he’s hot, so he did a great job today. He helped us win this game, especially in the last few minutes.”
Indeed, in the last 4 minutes, Larkin took charge to lead Efes to victory. But first Pleiss broke a 63-63 tie to give Efes the lead for good. Then Larkin and his backcourt mate Vasilije Micic connected on back-to-back threes. When Shavon Shields scored to give Milan hope, Larkin landed a tough layup and added a late three to finish the game off.
How was it that Larkin finished so strong after being held to 2 points in the entire first half? Let’s allow him to explain.
"All game they were double-teaming on the isolations up top, so I tried to get teammates involved,” Larkin said, which checks out since he had more assists (4) than shots attempted (2) in the first half. “At the end of the game, I always want to take the responsibility, take the shots and try to help my team win. In the fourth quarter, I started taking more shots, my teammates started looking for me, I made a couple of baskets and we got a big win.”
Larkin finished with 16 points and 5 assists. The team’s leading scorer was reigning MVP Micic, who had 11 of his game-high 20 in the first quarter. Efes’s leader in +/- was James Anderson, who had more steals (3) than points (2), showing how much of a total team effort it was. Of course, the one who wrapped it up and put a bow on top was Larkin.