The fairytale storyline of the 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season saw another page written on Wednesday night, as ALBA Berlin downed Panathinaikos Athens 94-65 at Mercedes-Benz Arena to advance to 3-0, with forward Luke Sikma recording a 16-point, 15-rebound double-double in the triumph.
Sikma and ALBA make history against Panathinaikos
In many ways, Sikma is the perfect embodiment of ALBA, as he is an unselfish star who does his all to help the team every time that he is on the floor. Some nights he will focus on being the playmaker, and other nights he will dedicate his efforts towards getting ALBA second-chance opportunities via rebounds, yet it is not uncommon to see him flourish in a plethora of areas, as was the case against Panathinaikos.
Sikma finished the game against the Greens with a PIR of 33 after scoring 16 points on 4-of-7 two-pointers and 2-of-3 three-pointers, grabbing 15 rebounds and dishing out 6 assists. He drew 5 fouls, too. Never before in his career has Sikma had a rebounding night as good as he did in the triumph over Panathinaikos, with his previous record being the 12 he recorded on two occasions: first in ALBA's 89-95 loss at home to Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv on January 9, 2020, and then again almost 11 months later on December 3, 2020, during a 100-92 win on the road at Valencia Basket.
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It is not just Sikma who had a night to remember, though, as ALBA has now won its first three games to start a EuroLeague season for the first time in its history . The closest it ever came was 2-0, which it achieved this season as well as in 2012-13, but on that occasion it fell to a 77-66 defeat to Asseco Prokom Gdynia in Round 3. Now, ALBA has the chance to add to its 3-0 record when it travels to take on back-to-back reigning EuroLeague champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul this Friday, October 21.