Efes (16-17) knows that victory will be enough to secure a place in the play-in as it faces a Zvezda team (11-22) that will finish the season 16th, win or lose.
Tomislav Mijatovic, Efes: 'It is an extremely important game for us'
The Turkish team is in fabulous form, keeping its season alive with four straight victories. Shane Larkin, the league leader in PIR (20.5 per game), received great help in last week's Istanbul derby triumph over Fenerbahce from Will Clyburn, who has returned to his best after an injury-hit campaign with double digits scoring in the last eight games. Zvezda has lost eight of the last nine games to finish the season in disappointing fashion, failing to win on the road since January, but battled hard against playoff-bound Olympiacos last week as Joel Bolomboy powered the paint with 19 points and 12 rebounds. The Serbian team will play with pride as its challenge concludes.
Tomislav Mijatovic, Efes head coach
"We are returning to our beloved Sinan Erdem Arena for the last game of the regular season of the EuroLeague. It is an extremely important game for us against a very experienced team team that has many national team players and also international experienced players in EuroLeague. They are very well-coached and we need to do everything in our power with the support and help of our great home crowd, and for 40 minutes with the high energy full concentration in every aspect of offense and defense in order to reach our final goal which is to win the game."
Elijah Bryant, Efes player
"It’s a final game that we must come and fight every possession no matter the score."