It marked the fifth time a team ever had nine players with double-digit PIRs
Efes showed off its offensive arsenal against helpless Milan
A five-game losing streak dealt a major blow in morale to an Anadolu Efes Istanbul side that hadn’t managed to make the most of the so-called new head-coach bounce following Luca Banchi’s arrival.
Having suffered consecutive defeats in his first three games in charge, Banchi saw his team pull off a statement victory by cruising past an injury-hit EA7 Emporio Armani Milan with a 110-66 win on Thursday evening.
“We lost our last five games. It was time for us to respond and send a message,” Banchi admitted after the game.
Showing off its elite offensive firepower, Efes responded in style. Seven players reached double digits in scoring; Rodrigue Beaubois led the way with 18 points, while Jordan Nwora (15), Rolands Smits (13), Elijah Bryant (12), Ercan Osmani (12), Shane Larkin (11) and Dan Oturu (10) followed suit.
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“A solid performance, approaching the game with the proper energy and having from everybody a collective effort to respond to this difficult momentum. I really liked the spirit,” Banchi said in the post-game press conference.
Efes became the fifth team ever with nine double-digit PIR players in one game, as Vincent Poirier and P.J. Dozier joined the aforementioned seven teammates on that list.
A special mention for the new Efes signing, as Dozier shined on both ends, recording 8 points and a career-high 9 assists in just his second game for the Turkish side.
“Shoutout to the coach,” Dozier told EuroLeague TV. “He came in and embarked on a tough situation in the middle of the season. He’s with a new team, got a new player [in me]. There’s a lot of moving parts right now and we’re all trying to figure it out. But we have a great group and the team chemistry is good, so we’re looking forward to it.”
Efes shared the ball in an exemplary manner and fired on all cylinders. The hosts recorded 26 assists and shot 17-for-27 (63.0%) from behind the arc. They matched their scoring record in a non-overtime game (110 points) by dealing Milan its largest-ever defeat.
“Efes played the game that they can play,” Milan head coach Ettore Messina stressed in the press conference. “They are a very, very good team. Very deep. They played and scored and just… destroyed us.”
Having put the five-game losing slide behind them, Efes will look to gain confidence ahead of a tough clash in Greece against Olympiacos Piraeus next week.
“We needed that [win] because lately we didn’t play the basketball that we wanted to play,” Beaubois told EuroLeague TV. “We need to use that momentum and keep playing like this. Because when we’re playing like this, we are hard to beat.”
Having dealt Olympiacos a 91-89 defeat back in Round 4, Efes has now set sights on building a winning streak after sending a fresh message with an offensive masterclass against Milan on Thursday evening.