Even though it looked as if Efes might blow its lead, Coach Mijatovic's men stood tall in the end
Efes poise overcame Milan fightback, Larkin injury
Article
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 5 of 34
Group Regular Season
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It wasn’t easy – even though it looked like it might be – but Anadolu Efes Istanbul eventually held on to pull away from EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, 84-96, and improve to 3-2.
The first two quarters were a comfortable walk in the park for the Turkish team, which raced into a 21-point lead by halftime after a smooth offensive performance that yielded 14 assists and 46 points, while Milan continued its struggles from the previous week’s collapse against Zalgiris Kaunas.
It looked and felt like game over as the jeers rang around Unipol Forum when the players headed into the locker rooms at the interval, but Milan – whose head coach Ettore Messina described his team’s first-half performance as “very, very disgraceful” – showed plenty of pride and made a major improvement after the break.
Game Videos
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Rodrigue Beaubois: 'We have so much talent'
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ALBA Berlin-EA7 Emporio Armani Milan | RS Round 9 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
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Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz-Anadolu Efes Istanbul | RS Round 9 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:15
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/d42e45cb-c38c-4f0e-8ce3-f98efcdf4f99.jpg?crop=1080%3A607%3Anowe%3A129%3A94]()
Oturu rejects Diop! Motorola Magic Moment
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Anadolu Efes Istanbul-AS Monaco | RS Round 8 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:09
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Thompson finds Oturu! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:16
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Thompson throws it down! Motorola Magic Moment
- 01:14
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Neno Dimitrijevic: 'We did an amazing job'
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/fba8d3f6-eeb2-4f9a-914f-1a8c4be416a7.jpg]()
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan-Real Madrid | RS Round 8 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 01:31
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Fabien Causeur: 'We found the right solutions'
- 00:58
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Darius Thompson: 'We've got a lot of talent on this team'
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/24b272d4-aa46-4393-9565-51b3fe8b3e91.jpg]()
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan-Virtus Segafredo Bologna | RS Round 7 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
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ALBA Berlin-Anadolu Efes Istanbul | RS Round 7 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:12
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Poirier rejects Olinde dunk attempt! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:13
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A monster jam by Josh Nebo! Motorola Magic Momen
- 00:10
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What a play by Leandro Bolmaro! Motorola Magic Moment
![https://img.youtube.com/vi/CEYiNxJwu9I/maxresdefault.jpg]()
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz-EA7 Emporio Armani Milan | RS Round 6 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:18
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Nebo's block leads to creative offense! Motorola Magic Moment
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Anadolu Efes Istanbul-FC Barcelona | RS Round 6 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:11
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Poirier's huge alley-oop slam! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:12
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Poirier's alley-oop dunk! Motorola Magic Moment
![https://img.youtube.com/vi/H9NZH7VoQ98/maxresdefault.jpg]()
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan-Anadolu Efes Istanbul | RS Round 5 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:50
![https://dve-images.imggaming.com/original/p/2024/10/24/II4qbxpi7QBaV6ou47jZvmpPjXpXJvhl-1729802870482.jpg]()
Darius Thompson: 'It was a next-man-up mentality'
- 00:26
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/b97cc3b1-ce4a-4b2e-b351-dc3b1485c47a.jpg?crop=2640%3A1485%3Anowe%3A125%3A118]()
LeDay’s brutal slam! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:21
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/ab4fc6c5-033c-4e28-b9de-6556d0682e82.jpg?crop=1080%3A607%3Anowe%3A133%3A52]()
Poirier blocks, Thompson dunks! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:20
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Bolmaro does it all! Motorola Magic Moment
- 01:44
![https://dve-images.imggaming.com/original/p/2024/10/18/OGp9bjFBORmtiUluQzWPDGcaYghRPSbn-1729293457155.jpg]()
Shane Larkin: 'I try to take a little bit more responsibility'
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/40afb3f1-808c-42b2-be8f-1b0ff1b2cbec.jpg]()
Anadolu Efes Istanbul-Olympiacos Piraeus | RS Round 4 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:09
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Poirier’s power! Motorola Magic Moment
![https://img.youtube.com/vi/i5ec2jdFtqE/maxresdefault.jpg]()
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan-Zalgiris Kaunas | RS Round 4 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:28
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Shields rocks the rim on a fastbreak! Motorola Magic Moment
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Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv-Anadolu Efes Istanbul | RS Round 3 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
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Veolia Towers Hamburg-U-BT Cluj-Napoca | Round 4 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup
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Olympiacos Piraeus-EA7 Emporio Armani Milan | RS Round 3 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:12
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/09ced6d2-69e3-4c0c-b34d-983e94e3bc53.jpg?crop=1080%3A608%3Anowe%3A91%3A85]()
LeDay with a ferocious dunk! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:27
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/7a6ed3cd-ac37-490c-845b-9b8fe42fc04c.jpg?crop=1019%3A573%3Anowe%3A164%3A26]()
Poirier with the reverse jam! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:10
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Ivey to Barnett alley-oop! Magic Moment
- 00:09
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Larkin with an incredible pass for Poirier! Motorola Magic Moment
- 02:00
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Ettore Messina: 'Zach LeDay always gives us something'
- 03:46
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EA7 Emporio Armani Milan-Paris Basketball | RS Round 2 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:11
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Zach LeDay with a powerful slam! Motorola Magic Moment
- 03:43
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Anadolu Efes Istanbul-Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul | RS Round 2 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:10
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Poirier stands strong! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:12
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Larkin on the buzzer! Motorola Magic Moment
- 03:58
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Virtus Segafredo Bologna-Anadolu Efes Istanbul | RS Round 1 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 01:31
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Shane Larkin: 'The sky is the limit for us'
- 03:56
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/9b88dcef-134f-4928-9415-b6bdf8ac15fb.jpg]()
AS Monaco-EA7 Emporio Armani Milan | RS Round 1 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 03:53
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Anadolu Efes Istanbul-Virtus Segafredo Bologna | Play-In | 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:19
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Pleiss with the block on Hackett! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:10
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Osmani's one-handed slam! Motorola Magic Moment
On the back of spectacular three-point shooting which saw Milan make 7 of its first 8 triples in the second half, the home team dragged itself back into contention, with Efes suffering the additional blow of losing star guard Shane Larkin to injury.
But Efes was able to maintain a well-balanced offense to pull away again in the final quarter, ending with an exceptional 27-of-32 two-point shooting (84.4%), plus a more than acceptable 11-of-23 from three-point range (47.8%).
Victorious Coach Tomislav Mijatovic was delighted with his team’s response to Milan’s spirited recovery, saying that he was most impressed with…”our ball sharing, our relentlessness, our willingness to fight for each other, even in a tough moment for all of us when we saw that Shane got injured.
“Of course it affects all of us, because he’s our teammate, he’s our guy, and we hope that it’s nothing too serious. But the guys stepped up for him, so it’s a team effort and a team victory. We had to really put out best effort and the guys got a tremendous win.
“When you have a 20-point lead on the road at the half, you know the [home] team is going to react, especially a team that has so much potential and is coached so well. They reacted, but credit to our guys, we never put our head down even in the toughest moment.”
One of the key performers was Darius Thompson, the man who replaced Larkin as Efes’s main playmaker and responded by draining 10 points in the last 12 minutes to help his team cross the finish line.
Thompson, who finished with 17 points and 7 assists, said: “It was a ‘next man up’ mentality. He [Larkin] went down so we needed somebody to make plays, I had the ball so I tried to do what I can to help the team.”
With that kind of mentality, Efes continued its rise up the standings.