Tyler Dorsey provided the magic touch for Fenerbahce on Wednesday with one of the craziest baskets in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague history.
Tyler Dorsey made magic in Istanbul
Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul needed everything it had to beat Zalgiris Kaunas 80-78 at home in Round 15, including a little bit of luck. Tyler Dorsey provided the magic touch with one of the craziest baskets in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague history.
Fenerbahce trailed most of the way and was way behind, 28-40, at halftime. A change of attitude allowed Coach Sarunas Jasikevicius's team to bounce back and take a 77-70 margin with over 3 minutes left. Zalgiris was not done, as Edmond Sumner and Keenan Evans each hit a three-pointer to bring the guests within 77-76.
That's when Dorsey worked out his magic, turning Ulker Sports and Event Hall upside down.
Fenerbahce tried a long offense off a timeout and Scottie Wilbekin missed from downtown. Johnathan Motley grabbed the offensive rebound and found Dorsey going towards the baseline. Tomas Dimsa fouled him, sending him out of bounds, but Dorsey shot the ball up, over the backboard, and it went through the rim, barely touching the net.
"I did [see the rim] but growing up, they teach you that when you hear tyhe whistle, you have to throw it up to the rim! I just put it up there," Dorsey said about his fantastic play. "I don't practice that but I got some luck today, thankfully."
Dorsey hit the additional free throws and even when Evans brought Zalgiris within 80-78, he also missed a shot that would have forced overtime.
When the dust settled, Dorsey had not just hit one of the shots of the decade but had also led his team with season highs of 19 points and a PIR of 24.
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"We knew they are a hard-nosed team. They fight every game no matter what's the score or who they are playing. They had a good first half, we were giving them too many easy baskets going to the rim and in the paint, and open threes. And we knew it going into the second half, we had to defend better. And when we defended, got rebounds, we got easy baskets in transition. I think we have so many weapons when we get in transition and move the ball. You see what we did in the second half."
After being outrebounded 11-16 in the first half, Fenerbahce won the battle of the boards after the break, 19-13, pulling down 6 of them on the offensive end. Zalgiris reached halftime with 15 assists and 3 turnovers. After the break, the guests picked up 11 turnovers and only had 5 assists. All that allowed Fenerbahce to get a come-from-behind win, with a little bit of luck.