The Turkish team overturned an early double-digit advantage to claim an ultimately comfortable win.
Efes fights back to blast Zvezda, 89-67
Anadolu Efes Istanbul outlasted Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade, 89-67, to take a valuable home win thanks to a strong second half. Efes improved to 9-7, while Zvezda dropped to 8-8.
Zvezda dominated the opening quarter to take a double-digit lead, but Efes fought back and it was 36-42 at the break. The hosts continued their recovery to go ahead in the third quarter and a 12-0 run early in the fourth sealed the win.
Elijah Bryant and Dan Oturu paced Efes with 17 points apiece, while Ercan Osmani scored 13, Rolands Smits had 12, Rodrigue Beaubois netted 11, and Shane Larkin only scored 4 points but dished 12 assists. Filip Petrusev top-scored for Zvezda with 15 points, and Codi Miller-McIntyre netted 10.
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Miller-McIntyre’s triple opened the scoring in an otherwise slow start, before Ognjen Dobric netted a three and Petrusev powered a layup for a 0-8 lead. Ercan Osmani finally got Efes on the scoreboard and Bryant struck from deep, but Petrusev scored twice and Dobric netted a putback to make it 5-14. Bryant hit another triple and Osmani scored from close-range before Miller-McIntyre kept Zvezda moving from deep. Oturu and Darius Thompson scored at the rim, but Nikola Kalinic drilled a triple to end the first quarter, 14-25.
Bryant’s layup and Smits’ triple pulled Efes closer, before Luka Mitrovic and Beaubois traded close-range finishes. Oturu scored 5 fast points and Smits added a slam, pulling Efes back to 28-33. Oturu’s tip-in completed a 7-0 run, which Yago Dos Santos ended with a driving layup. Beaubois’s mid-range jumper and Stanley Johnson’s transition score were answered by Joel Bolomboy’s jumper, keeping Zvezda ahead at 34-37. Oturu and Dobric both netted at the rim, before Bolomboy struck again for a 36-42 interval score.
Petrusev struck from deep to start the second half, but Bryant scored consecutive baskets to keep Efes close and Jordan Nwora hit a three to bring Efes back, 45-47. Miller-McIntyre scored in transition, but Bryant scored 5 points in a row for the home team’s first lead, 50-49. Nemanja Nedovic from close-range and Dos Santos from deep restored Zvezda’s lead, but Osmani’s free throws sent Efes back ahead, 56-54. Petrusev’s layup was bettered by Osmani from deep at the end of the third, 59-57.
Neither team could score as turnovers flew freely early in the final period before finally Beaubois netted a mid-range jumper and Smits added a triple for a 64-57 lead. Beaubois netted consecutive identical steals and scores for a double-digit advantage after a 14-0 run, before Kalinic finally ended Zvezda’s 5-minute drought from the foul line. Vincent Poirier’s alley-oop and a pair of scores from Darius Thompson stretched Efes’s lead, 78-61, and Oturu’s mid-range finish removed any lingering doubt as Zvezda struggled until the end.