Isaia Cordinier won the game with 2 free throws with 0.3 seconds left
Cordinier shows ice in his veins as Efes spoil Pascual’s return with Barcelona
Отчеты о матчах
3 Минутное чтение
Regular Season
Round 12 of 38
Regular Season
Anadolu Efes IstanbulEFS
7473
FC BarcelonaBAR
Overview
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Isaia Cordinier made all 8 of his free throws as Anadolu Efes Istanbul overcame ever-mounting injury concerns thanks to the next big showing from the Frenchman, including the game-winning free throws with 0.3 seconds left in the game.
Cordinier showed ice in his veins from the charity stripe to give Efes a 74-73 victory over FC Barcelona in an inspiring come-from-behind battle with the Turkish side missing seven players and Barcelona on a high with the return of head coach Xavi Pascual.
“I just was trying to get into my own bubble and focus on the routine and try to knock down the free throws,” said Cordinier about his foul shots, which finished off his night with 14 points and 3 rebounds.
Efes head coach Igor Kokoskov was a bit less relaxed in the final three-tenths of a second. When asked in the post-game interview what he was thinking when Cordinier was at the foul line, the coach said: “If he misses the free throws, tomorrow he would run suicides the whole day. That was my thought.”
We’ll never know if Kokoskov would have actually made Cordinier run the next day because the forward played another big game in the absence of the club’s franchise player Shane Larkin. The team leader went down early in last week’s game against FC Bayern Munich with a groin injury that will keep him out about eight weeks.
“We’re gonna miss him. I expect some other guys will step up, just like they did tonight,” the coach said.
Cordinier poured in 26 points last week and led the way against Barcelona. But he had plenty of help. Jordan Loyd and Ercan Osmani both scored 13 points and Nick Weiler-Babb collected 12 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists. And even 22-year-old Brice Dessert registered a career-high 12 points.
“We are giving 100 percent, our energy is really high. Even if we don’t have our big-name players, everyone is showing they want to play. I am really happy about this team. We need to push like this every game,” Osmani said.
Barcelona took initial control of the game in the second quarter, building up a 13-point lead late in the first half and going into the break up 35-46. The visitors scored the first 2 points of the second half, but Efes roared back into the game.
Weiler-Babb drained 2 three-pointers in a 19-2 surge to pull ahead 54-50 and Kokoskov’s men were up 58-53 late in the third quarter.
“In the third quarter, when we were down 11, we talked about one possession at a time. Don’t panic. Just one defensive stop and make a little run, which we did. That third quarter was huge defensively and executing in crunch time, making big plays,” Kokoskov said.
An Osmani tip-in off a missed free throw had the hosts up 69-64 with under 4 minutes to play. Barcelona showed its experience and went on a 1-9 spurt to lead 70-73 after Tomas Satoransky’s corner three-pointer with 52 seconds to go.
Dessert hit two free throws at the other end with 36 seconds to go and then after Barcelona failed to convert, Efes had the final possession. Cordinier drove and had his initial shot blocked, but he grabbed the miss and was fouled with 0.3 seconds to go by Jan Vesely. And the 28-year-old Cordinier secured the win.
“I just think it’s the mentality we are trying to have as a group. We’re not trying to find any excuses.” Cordinier said. “We are the only ones who can do the job. We have to step on the floor believing we are going to win every game.”
Efes has now won back-to-back games for a 5-7 record to inch closer to the play-in line in the standings.
Barcelona came into the game having won four of its last five games and was playing its first game under returning Coach Pascual, who returned to the club after nine years away. Jan Vesely had 16 points and Willy Hernangomez added 10 points, but they were not enough - especially to make up for the poor third quarter.
“In the third quarter we played very bad. We missed all the open shots. Also defensively, we didn’t control the game. We lost our advantage immediately. After that, it was point by point and both teams could (have won). It’s clear that in the second half, we didn’t play well and that is why we lost the game,” said Pascual, whose team fell to 7-5.
