Partizan rallies to stun Efes, 84-97

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade came back from a 17-point deficit, using big runs in second and fourth quarters en route to a huge 84-97 win over the two-time defending champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul on Thursday night. Efes opened the game with a 23-6 lead, but Partizan erased it by the midway point of the second quarter, then scored 34 points in the fourth, including a 0-16 run, to register a win and a 2-0 season sweep against Efes. Partizan improved to a 16-13 record, while Efes dropped to 14-15 with five games to play in the regular season..
Partizan had five players score at least 14 points, with Kevin Punter scoring 17 of his team-high 19 in the second half. Mathias Lessort scored 10 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, while James Nunnally scored 10 of his 16 after halftime. Zach LeDay also scored 16 and Aleksa Avramovic finished with 14. Will Clyburn led all scorers with 22 points for Efes. Elijah Bryant added 16 points, Vasilije Micic 15 and Bryant Dunston 10.
Game Videos
Efes had a hot start, with Bryant sinking a pair of triple and blocking a pair of shots on the defensive end. A three-pointer from Clyburn opened a 13-4 lead. Yam Madar had a fastbreak layup for Partizan, but Efes scored the next 10 points, with Shane Larkin and Micic pushing the lead to 23-6. Dante Exum and Avramovic scored the final 5 points of the first quarter for Partizan, and LeDay led a 0-6 run to open the second and cut the gap to 23-17. Dunston snapped a 0-11 Partizan run with a dunk, but a three-point play from Lessort and a triple from Nunnally helped put the visitors in front, 30-31. Partizan did not stop there, and fastbreak baskets from Avramovic and Punter had the visitors up 35-39 before Efes cut it to 37-39 at halftime.
Nunnally's triple helped Partizan open a 37-44 after the break, but Clyburn and Bryant replied with back-to-back triples. The two teams kept trading blows, with neither taking a lead bigger than 3 points, as Efes did after a steal from Micic and a fastbreak dunk from Clyburn. Avramovic and Punter each hit a triple, however, and Punter had a three-point play to make it 60-61 before Efes took a 64-63 edge into the fourth quarter. A three-point play from Micic and a triple from Clyburn made it 70-67 for the hosts, but Lessort scored 4 points to restore the visitors' lead before Punter made a tough triple to spark a 0-16 run. Nunnally followed with a three of his own, before Punter scored 8 more points, including another three-pointer, opening a sudden 72-87 margin. Larkin ended Efes's drought of almost 4 minutes without a point, but with under 3 minutes to go, Partizan comfortably closed out the game.