The hosts had six players score in double digits to go up to 13-9 in the standings
Barcelona stops Efes for fourth straight win, 90-80
FC Barcelona grabbed its fourth consecutive victory in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague by topping Anadolu Efes Istanbul 90-80 at Palau Blaugrana in Round 22 on Friday. Joan Penarroya's men improved to 13-9 on the season while Efes dropped to 10-12 and is on a five-game losing streak. Luca Banchi has now lost all three games he has overseen as Efes head coach.
Kevin Punter paced the winners with 15 points. Youssoupha Fall added 13, Jan Vesely and Juan Nunez each had 11, while Dario Brizuela and Chimezie Metu contributed 10 apiece for Barca. Elijah Bryant led Efes with 16 points. Shane Larkin and Vincent Poirier each added 13, while Darius Thompson had 10 for the guests.
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Thompson got Efes going with a three-pointer, which Bryant followed with a jumper for a 0-5 lead. Fall scored around the basket, then Thompson and Tomas Satoransky traded triples before Poirier's alley-oop dunk restored a 5-10 Efes edge. Poirier erased Fall's dunk with another alley-oop slam, before a red-hot Thompson and Larkin each struck from downtown to boost the guests' lead to 9-18. Fall hit a fadeaway jumper and Nunez added a layup, igniting a 9-0 run that Alex Abrines capped with a bomb from beyond the arc. Stanley Johnson stepped up for Efes and Larkin buried another triple before Metu's dunk fixed the score at 22-24 after 10 minutes.
Metu buried a turnaround jumper early in the second quarter and Justin Anderson's three-pointer made Efes call a timeout at 27-24. Dan Oturu and Nunez traded layups and Metu's alley-oop slam made it a five-point game, 31-26. Oturu stepped up with a put-back layup and matched Metu's turnaround jumper with a close basket. Oturu kept pacing Efes before Derek Willis tied the game with a bomb from downtown, 35-35. Fall scored down low, igniting a 7-0 Barca run in which Brizuela followed a three-pointer with a floater, good for a 42-35 lead. Abrines matched Poirier's jump hook with a dricing layup, then PJ Dozier's three-pointer got Efes within 44-40. Punter buried a corner triple which helped Barca restore a 48-41 lead at halftime.
Jan Vesely dunked twice soon after the break and answered Larkin's three-pointer with a mid-range jumper to restore a double-digit Barca lead, 56-46. Bryant scored around the basket and Ercan Osmani added a driving layup to give Efes hope at 54-48. Larkin tried to change things for Efes, Punter and Bryant traded driving layups before Nunez gave his team a 59-52 margin. Bryant struck from beyond the arc and Larkin made it a two-point game, 59-57. Brizuela buried a three-pointer from the left wing and Metu's one-handed floater in the lane boosted Barca's lead to 65-57. Bryant hit an acrobatic layup to keep Efes within 65-59 after 30 minutes.
Nunez took over with a huge three-point play early in the fourth quarter. He found Vesely for a baseline jumper that made Efes call a timeout at 70-60. Poirier tried to ignite the guests' comeback with a floater, and Dozier improved Brizuela's jump hook with a three-point play. Nunez took over with a floater, but Poirier did better with a power layup and a fast-break slam, bringing Efes within 74-69. Punter sank a highly-contested triple and Fall's layup kept Barca out of trouble, 79-69, with over 3 minutes left. Satoransky buried a jumper that Osmani bettered with a bomb from downtown. Punter and Jabari Parker sealed the outcome from the foul line.