Nikola Mirotic turned in one of the finest games in the history of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four, even though it was not enough to carry FC Barcelona to victory.

MVP Mirotic delivers heroic effort in Barcelona defeat

The day after being named this season’s EuroLeague MVP, Mirotic posted 26 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals for a performance index rating of 39. That PIR is the second-highest at a Final Four game since the turn of the century behind only Shane Larkin’s 43 in the 2019 semifinals.

Nikola Mirotic (26 points) Highlights vs. Real Madrid, 05/19/2022

Mirotic performed with excellent accuracy, making 4 of 7 two-pointers, 4 of 7 threes and all 6 of his free throws. He only committed 1 turnover, too. Mirotic led all players on both teams in scoring and rebounds and had the second-most assists in the game. 

The star forward did not look away when the pressure rose in the fourth quarter. He played the entirety of the final stanza, during which he tallied 9 points and 3 assists – all to Brandon Davies – and thus had a hand in 15 of Barcelona’s fourth-quarter points.

Sarunas Jasikevicius press conference quotes

Sarunas Jasikevicius - FC Barcelona - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21-FFS

Of course it’s better to be on the winning side after a shot at the buzzer. So I am sorry for my friend Bartzokas. It was really a great game. Congratulations also to the Olympiacos club. They created a great atmosphere here at the Final Four. The first time I saw in a Final Four in a different country more than 15,000 people. It was a fantastic atmosphere. We didn’t start the game well. In the beginning, Bartzokas’ defensive strategy worked very well because they put pressure on Micic and Larkin. We didn’t find a way to attack. But after that - especially after Elijah Bryant entered the game - we found another scorer. We attacked Dorsey and Sloukas with him. In the mean time, Shane Larkin in that period, had his game, especially in transition offense. We tried to increase the tempo, and we had some success. We got back into the game. In the second half, I think we controlled the game. Many times we led by 10 or 11 points. We had control. But after Larkin had a cramp and was out 3 or 4 minutes he came back into the game but didn’t have the same rhythm. Micic got tired. We lost some easy possessions down the stretch and Olympiacos got back into the game. And then the buzzer shot by Micic. Once again, three years consecutively we will play in the final.  

It’s a great pleasure that Popovic is here to watch the games. He’s a legend in basketball history. Maybe after three consecutive finals he will think about taking a European coach for the NBA. He helped me to go to NBA. He is a very good friend. Four years ago I went to San Antonio and stayed with him for 10 days. He’s an amazing person. Not only a great coach. On the other side, for us, it’s really a great performance for this team. I took over the team in 2017-18 in last place in the EuroLeague and the last four seasons we are at the same level - if you also consider the season that was canceled, when we were in first place. I talked with my players in the locker room, of course it’s a big result to play the final. But we came here to win the cup one more time. We are just one game from going back-to-back. And we will do everything we can to win the title again this year.

We know that he is the most important part of the Olympiacos attack because he creates, he scores, he plays the pick-and-roll. And his distribution of the ball. He likes to pass the ball to Vezenkov for corner shots and Papanikolaou. We made a different strategy in the beginning. We stayed on the second level with him but in the last seven, eight seconds we stayed strong on him on the pick-and-roll to close his pass channel. We risked some shots from the perimeter but we were successful. Actually in the beginning we had some big trouble stopping Moustapha Fall inside. In the second half, we changed the strategy and started with more defensive players - Bryant Dunston and Chris Singleton. And through that we had a great job. Also Elijah Bryant was one of the key players in our strategy tonight. Because when they put pressure on Micic and Larkin we used Bryant to attack Dorsey and Sloukas and we found the way to attack.

We wanted to use the whole shot clock. That’s the reason we started from the baseline. It was a tied game and I talked in the timeout that we would attack the last five or six seconds - first to control overtime - and then play pick and pop on their four man Vezenkov who likes to attack. We chose Micic because after Larkin had the cramp he was out of his rhythm. We did what we wanted but I didn’t talk to Micic to shoot the ball. I told him to read and maybe attack because there could also be the bonus free throw. He didn’t find the way to attack and decided to shoot. We missed some easier shots in the final five or six possessions but he made it at the buzzer. This is basketball. We lost in Athens on that kind of shot - to Sloukas in the regular season in overtime. Tonight we won. Unfortunately for them, this is the Final Four and we will play in the final.

About final opponent I have all the respect for both teams - big clubs, big coaches. But in my feeling, I am upset because this season I did not the Barcelona games. In both games, I was disqualified and I didn’t finish the game. For me it will be different motivation if I again find Barcelona in the final and to finish the game with the cup.

Ergin Ataman press conferece quotes

Olympiacos Piraeus v Anadolu Efes Istanbul (2022-05-19T16:00:00.000Z)

Ergin Ataman - Anadolu Efes Istanbul - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - E21-FFS

Unfortunately it was a really tough night for us. We competed really hard in the game against the European champions and we believe that we should have won the game if we could have had some better decisions. But you know some of the players that we have don’t have previous experience from these games. It cost us. It is a really tough night for our team and our fans, but at the same time we are also proud of our players, about our fans also. We came here after a long period without participating in the Final Four. And we showed everybody that we deserved to be here. We had a fantastic season and the only thing i can say is to give credit to our players, the whole organization and to our fans for this year. Olympiacos came back to the highest level of EuroLeague and it’s gonna say there.

We paid for the lack of experience. All coaches say if you never had a chance to play a EuroLeague Final Four game, it’s always tough the first time. It costs in some decisions that you take. Some times you play with your emotions and not thinking. But I cannot complain. This is the team that we built up this year. And I think we did a great job. Not me but everybody in the organization. We built up a strong team. A very solid team at both ends. Even today we competed against a great team. They already have the title from the previous season and they know how to play in the tough moments of the game. But at the same time I think we are at the same level as them. So it’s really a credit to our players.

Efes managed to have the 11-point lead and it’s not easy in these kinds of games and with these kind of experienced guards that they have to come back in the game. We came back early in the game and we had a lot of chances to lead, a lot. I can remember two, three turnovers. Also missing with a great shooter three free throws in a crucial part of the game. At the same time, always in games like this you need to me make big shots if you want to win the game. Like the last one from Micic. We had Vezenkov our fantastic shooter who was 1-of-8 today. I cannot complain about anything. It’s about this: in the tough games, you need to make big shots. Especially how the defense is right now in European basketball everybody is packing the paint, everybody is protecting the rim. So you need ball movement to find open shots. If you make these shots it’s really difficult for the opponents to get back. We had ups and downs during the game. But we were solid, we were consistent. We tried for the win until the last second. I cannot complain to our players.

About Larkin and Micic: They have the experience, they have the potential, they have the talent. And of course today they had some luck. It’s a fantastic duo. They add things to each other - scoring and creating at the same time. Congratulations to Efes. They are paying a lot of money to have them. So congratulations to Efes also.

About the fans: I am really grateful to the fans. It’s not in today’s game that they supported us. They travel. It was probably more than 10 thousand fans. It’s about the support we had the whole season. They believed in the team, in our mentality, in the game. So I am really grateful. I’m really sad that we couldn’t give them the happiness of winning this game today. But this basketball.”

about the lastt play: Like everybody thinks, we had two choices: stay with our defense or to make a foul and have the last offense. My decision in the end was to play defense. They tried two times to play pick and roll with Moerman - twice, just to create the switch. But you saw that it was a contested shot from Micic. But he made it. This is basketball. I cannot describe it. It is what it is. We could do some other things, of course. But in the end it was a contested shot that they made.

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Georgios Bartzokas press conference quotes

Georgios Bartzokas - Olympiacos Piraeus - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - E21-FFS

The most-crowned team in EuroLeague history and a would-be repeat champion will vie for the trophy on Saturday after the first El Clasico ever in Belgrade featured a monster comeback win.Real rallies to stop Barca, 83-86.

Real rallies to stop Barca, 83-86

Real Madrid rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit to outduel arch-rival FC Barcelona the rest of the way and win 83-86 in the second semifinal at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Belgrade, Serbia. Real's French connection drove the comeback, with Fabien Causeur and Geurschon Yabusele drilling 18 points each and Vincent Poirier coming up with big plays down the stretch. Sergio Llull added 15 points for the winners, including a key layup with 22 seconds left. For Barcelona, season MVP Nikola Mirotic had a monster double-double of 26 points and 12 rebounds. Nicolas Laprovittola added 17 points and Brandon Davies 15 for Barcelona, which got 9 assists from Nick Calathes.

Three-pointers coming from the French duo of Fabien Causeur and Guerschon Yabusele got Real going, 2-8, early in the first quarter. Nicolas Laprovittola and Nikola Mirotic answered soon for Barca to keep Los Blancos in sight, 6-8, as the game heated up offensively on both ends. Sergio Llull came off the Real bench to join the scoring and fed Yabusele for a dunk on the way to an 8-14 edge. Yabusele already had 10 points. Barcelona adjusted better on defense and hold Real scoreless for 3 minutes, good enough to not only make up the disadvantage, but go ahead 15-14 on three-pointer from Mirotic. Rokas Jokubaitis extended Barcelona's lead to 19-16 soon after, but Llull fed Walter Taveres for a monster alley-oop slam and added a free throw later that closed the first period 19-19.

Real stepped up when the game resumed, building up a 20-25 edge behind a three-point play by Gabriel Deck and a three-pointer by Rudy Fernandez in less than 50 seconds. Barcelona tried to stop it with a timeout, but found no field goals except a single three-pointer from Abrines in the first 4 minutes, allowing Real Madrid to retain a 22-27 margin. Free throws by Jokubaitis seemed to wake up Barcelona, which used Brandon Davies inside and Laprovittola outside to complete a 9-2 run and get the lead back, 31-29. Mirotic joined Laprovittola on offense, as they combined for 12 points that boosted Barcelona to a double-digit lead, 43-33, with less than a minute to go in the second quarter. Yabusele ended the offensive drought of Real with a free throw, but it proved too little to prevent Barcelona from reaching halftime comfortably settled into a 45-34 lead.

Barcelona amassed a 13-point lead soon after the intermission thanks to Sertan Sanli. Real didn't surrender, though, as Alberto Abalde took over with 7 quick points that got his team back into the game at 49-43. Calathes and Mirotic showed up then to calm down Barcelona. The former got his first bucket of the night, and the latter came up with a triple that restored a double-digit margin, 54-43, after 25 minutes. Los Blancos reacted thanks to Causeur, who turned on the lights again for Real with 5 points in a row. Tavares continued the rally and made it 54-50, then Yabusele followed with a triple, Causeur added 2 free throws and Llull it a go-ahead triple at 56-58. Barcelona remained cold and was unable to score for the next 2 minutes, which Real exploited to enter the last stanza leading 56-60 after Causeur stole and finishined a fastbreak layup.

Llull started the fourth quarter with free thorws and soon added 4 more points in a row to boost the difference to 61-68. Mirotic's next three-pointer restored Barcelona's offensive momentum, but Poirier punished the rim with a two-handed slam and Yabusele went deep to give Real a 66-73 margin with less than 5 minutes remaining. Laprovittola came up big again for Barcelona, with back-to-back triples that Mirotic followed with a bucket that forged a 75-75 tie with 2:43 to play. The momentum switched again when Causeur struck from deep then stole and finished, forcing a Barcelona timeout at 75-80. Calathes hit a floater and Davies thanked Mirotic for a great assist, restoring a one-possession contest at 79-80. Poirier prevented Laprovittola from completing the comeback with a huge block, then Llull took advantage of Real's offensive rebounding force to bank a shot that put Barcelona on the ropes, 79-82, with 21 seconds remaining. Abrines and Exum brought Barcelona within 83-84 with 5 seconds left go, Llull hit only 1 of 2 free throws, but Yabusele grabbed an offensive board which he turned into the final point when Mirotic's half-court game-tying attempt fell short.

Real roars back to stop Barca, 83-86

Walter Tavares 4- Real Madrid - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21-FFS

This is what the protagonists had to say after the Final Four semifinal showdown between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Post-game quotes: Barcelona vs. Madrid

### Pablo Laso, Real Madrid head coach: 

“I think it was a great game from our players. We followed the plan very good, we lost Nigel \[Williams-Goss\] in 20 seconds but we adjusted very quickly and found solutions defensively and offensively. I’m very proud of my players. Nigel’s injury bothered all the players because we had to rotate differently, but everybody was ready and that’s the most important thing as the coach of the team. Make them understand that they’ve got to keep believing. We were down on the score but we kept fighting, and finally, we got a great victory and we’re in the final. Llull is the soul of this team, he has been forever and I think he will be forever. He knew it would be hard for him because after what happened to Nigel he played more minutes. But he moved the ball, he found open spots, he was able to play solid defense, so he was great for us but without the rest of the team he couldn’t do anything. It was a great performance by Sergi but the whole team did a great job.”

### Sarunas Jasikevicius, FC Barcelona head coach: 

“We did not do anything that we planned. In the first half, we were up by 11 but the only thing we talked about was that Real Madrid missed all the shots and we were looking good, but we were not doing the details that are so huge in these games. When Madrid hit some shots, and at the end, they hit some difficult ones, they started scoring and it was too many points. Too many rebounds after foul shots, mis-communications. It’s painful. Attention to detail is not with us.”

### Guerschon Yabusele, Real Madrid forward:

“I’m just proud of the team. We showed a lot of team effort today from beginning until the end. We were down at halftime, but we knew if we showed our character on the court everything will be good. We showed it today, we deserved it and it feels good. We had to play strong, attack the paint, play together, share the ball, effort after effort. When we play as a team we’re tough to beat. We took care of the job and got the win. That was a really intense game. It’s a Clasico, so it was really tough. We deserved it and really happy about the win.”

### Sergio Llull, Real Madrid guard:

“We’re happy, I think in the second quarter we played bad. We lost a lot of balls and didn’t control the rhythm of the game. We came back in the third quarter more focused, knowing what we had to do. The team did a really good job and we deserved to win. We need everybody to win that kind of game. It was a final and on Saturday we have another one against a really good team.”

### Jeffery Taylor, Real Madrid forward:

"I believe we played a great game as a team. We played very good defense and were able to share the ball and find very good shots. We played an incredible game. They have a really big, really good team, and we had to play for 40 minutes to win. We went through some bad months, not playing well, but we were able to stand up, and now we are here."

### Gabriel Deck, Real Madrid forward:

"We played with intensity and aggressiveness in the second half. We did really well in the first quarter, and in the second, they came back due to our lack of focus. After that, we did really well and it was teamwork. This goes to those who said we were dead. We are in the final and this is a great reward to the team's work. Now, we have to rest and think about the final. I am very happy to be in a EuroLeague final. We knew that if we played tough, the game could go either way. We managed to match their aggressiveness in the second quarter when they took the lead. We came back fortunately, the game went our way."

### Nicolas Laprovittola, FC Barcelona guard:

“We lost a big advantage in the third quarter and that was our mistake. It’s a Final Four, it’s normal that the other team reacts because they are a good team, they have the quality to do that. We were not solid in some plays, and I’m really disappointed by that. We got nervous in some moments, but we got to give credit to them because they did their job very well. It was a close game, and they are a very experienced team, which helped them. We have to build from this, we have to come out stronger and get ready to win the Spanish League.”

### Brandon Davies, FC Barcelona center: 

“They are a good team and a tough opponent. We got to stay locked in for the 40 minutes to win and we didn’t do that. We just gave them too many easy buckets, they made us pay for our mistakes.”

Pablo Laso - Real Madrid - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - EB21-FFS

The last two games between Olympiacos Piraeus and Anadolu Efes Istanbul were solved with buzzer-beating three-pointers. Efes, however, took the most important win. 

Micic, Efes returns buzzer-beating favor

Efes qualified to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Championship Game by downing Olympiacos Piraeus 74-77. Vasilije Micic buried a three-pointer right at the buzzer to get Efes closer to defend the EuroLeague title. Kostas Sloukas fed Hassan Martin for a layup that tied the game, 74-74, with 19.5 seconds left, but Micic took matters into his own hands. Efes called timeout and Elijah Bryant inbounded the ball to Micic. Facing Thomas Walkup one-on-one, he took advantage of a great screen by Adrien Moerman eight meters away from the rim which forced Olympiacos to switch defenders. Micic took Sasha Vezenkov one-on-one, went to his left, stopped, popped and downed the game-winning shot.  

"I don't think we won at the buzzer in all the time we played together," Efes center Bryant Dunston said after the game. "We hit some last-second shots but this, at the biggest moment, was just an amazing play."

Olympiacos had beaten Efes at the buzzer at Peace and Friendship Stadium in regular season Round 26. The roles were reversed that time. Efes had led 84-85 late in overtime when Micic missed a driving layup. Sloukas grabbed the rebound, raced downcourt, passed the basketball to Shaquielle McKissic, who found him again in the left corner, faked to make Adrien Moerman fly past him and pulled the trigger to win the game. The play was chosen by EuroLeague fans as the 7DAYS Magic Moment of the 2021-22 season. 

Micic remembered that loss as he was preparing his game-winner on Friday.  

“This situation was very similar to the last game with them in the regular season, when I made a mistake and attacked too early. So I think I learned from that situation," Micic said after the game. "I kept believing that maybe this shot at the end would go in. Me and Shane are never jealous of each other for who takes the last shot, I’m very happy when he makes it." 

Moerman and especially Micic were on the winning side this time, making Efes keep fighting for EuroLeague glory!

<center>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">That. Moment.<a href=https://twitter.com/hashtag/F4GLORY?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>#F4GLORY</a> <a href=https://t.co/BCKfvfZCGG>pic.twitter.com/BCKfvfZCGG</a></p>&mdash; Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) <a href=https://twitter.com/EuroLeague/status/1527350320010973186?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>May 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src=https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js charset="utf-8"></script>

Micic, Efes return buzzer-beating favor

Vasilije Micic - Anadolu Efes Istanbul - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - E21-FFS

In a semifinals drama on Thursday night at the Stark Arena, Anadolu Efes Istanbul tied an all-time Final Four record for three-pointers made.


Key stat: Efes shoots its way into the championship game

In a 74-77 win over Olympiacos Piraeus, the reigning Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champs hit 14 three-point shots, tying the all-time Final Four mark. Efes was firing from long range the entire night, its 34 attempts being the second most in the semifinal behind only 45 by Montepaschi Siena in 2008.

Efes has done most of the damage from the outside in the first three quarters. Specifically, between the 3:10 mark of the first quarter and a 5:50 mark of the third, Efes made 11 of its 15 three-point attempts. Those helped turn a 14-7 deficit into a 48-57 lead.

Efes hit 13 of its triples in the first 27 minutes of the game. Interestingly, Vasilije Micic's shot with 0.2 seconds remaining was the only three-pointer made in the fourth quarter of the first semifinal in Belgrade.

<center>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A record for triples was equalled tonight in spectacular fashion! <a href=https://twitter.com/AnadoluEfesSK?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>@AnadoluEfesSK</a> made it RAIN in Belgrade as they reached the championship game 🌧 <a href=https://t.co/m7iElUKX8Z>pic.twitter.com/m7iElUKX8Z</a></p>&mdash; Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) <a href=https://twitter.com/EuroLeague/status/1527348779145277440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>May 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src=https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js charset="utf-8"></script>

But even though Efes went silent from long range, it still hit twice as many threes as Olympiacos. Micic was 4-for-11 for the game, Shane Larkin 4-for-12 and Elijah Bryant knocked down 4-of-6.

Efes shot 41.2% from behind the arc, compared to just 7-for-25 (28.0%) that Olympiacos managed.

Elijah Bryant - Anadolu Efes Istanbul - Final Four Belgrade 2022 - E21-FFS

Micic's triple that lifted Efes to a 74-77 win over Olympiacos Piraeus will go down in history as one of the most dramatic moments in Final Four history. But Micic did a lot more for his team on Thursday night than just making the game-winning shot. 

The Efes point guard finished the game with 15 points, making 1 of 5 two-pointers and 4 of 11 threes, but also had 6 rebounds and 9 assists, tying the mark for most assists in a Final Four Semifinal game this century. He joined the likes of Sergio Llull, Sergio Rodriguez, Dimitris Diamantidis and Vrbica Stefanov.

More important than joining the record books, it was his overall impact on the game.

 

Micic played 33 minutes and 52 seconds on for the night and had a +/- 14 next to his name, the highest in the game. It also means that in the 6 minutes and 8 seconds that Micic was on the bench, Efes was outscored by 11 points, clearly indicating the impact he had in a memorable victory that sent his team to its third consecutive championship game.

Anadolu Efes Istanbul point guard Vasilije Micic had a huge impact on the game that went far beyond his game-winning triple with 0.2 seconds left on the clock.