Rarely does a regular season defeat knock the stuffing out of a championship-winning coach, but ALBA Berlin’s 95-93 home win over Turkish Airlines Euroleague holder Anadolu Efes Istanbul left Ergin Ataman looking broken, as the outcome dealt a devastating blow to the visiting team’s chances of defending its crown.
"That’s our season, it’s the summary of the whole season. We will not be in the playoffs, good luck to the other teams," Ataman said in the courtside interview seconds after Luke Sikma nailed ALBA’s winner with a put-back dunk with 1.3 seconds left on the clock.
Efes, which is mathematically still in the hunt for a playoff spot and a chance to win a third successive title in Europe’s premier club competition, dropped to 14-16 and could be two wins behind eighth place by the end of the round.
ALBA, in contrast, had only pride to play for as the German side is still rooted to the bottom few spots of the standings with a 9-21 record and no chance of getting anywhere near the post-season contention. However, the hosts showed plenty of pride in what was surely their best performance of the season, lifting Jaleen Smith to a career-high 25 points after he almost missed the game’s dramatic finale.
Smith banged his head on the floor following an awkward landing after a collision with Ante Zizic with Efes leading 73-75 in the fourth quarter as the visitors had wiped out a 19-point deficit to generate their biggest comeback in a EuroLeague game. Not a winning comeback, though.
They led 75-82 moments later but having received treatment, Smith returned to action with a vengeance with ALBA trailing 78-84 and nailed a pair of successive three-pointers before he also sank 4 free throws down the stretcth, tracing the path to Sikma's game-winner.
The thrill of victory and agony of defeat was everywhere to be seen after the buzzer, as jubilant home players rejoiced with their fans while Efes trudged off the court into the locker room, having severely dented their hopes of winning a three-peat.