Anadolu Efes Istanbul went from the worst to the best again, but this time within one season – in points allowed.
Efes's defense went from worst to best in a matter of weeks
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It is well-known that Efes went on a journey from the last place in the 2017-18 season to the championship game a season later, followed by back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022. On its way to the EuroLeague crown the team lifted this past weekend in Belgrade, Efes completed another worst-to-first change, but this time with its defense.
After finishing the regular season allowing a league-high 81.0 points per game, Efes completely turned things around defensively. Efes has had the best defense in terms of points allowed since the end of the regular season - and by a wide margin. Efes held opponents to a league-low 64.0 points per game in the playoffs and at the Final Four in Belgrade allowed just 65.5 points.
"Everybody speaks about our offense," Shane Larkin said after winning the crown in the lowest-scoring EuroLeague Championship Game since the turn of the century. "Everybody talks about how we can make exciting plays, the threes, the alley-oops, the step-backs, all those things. In a game like this, 58-57, we get to sit down on defense, get our own rebounds, dive for loose balls, take charges. It just proves the heart that we have, the character we have, the championship character."
That was not only what Efes did in the championship game, but throughout the postseason during which it has not allowed more than 74 points in any game.
It was only the second time that the team that allowed the most points in the regular season even made the playoffs, let alone reach the Final Four and win the title. The only team before this season that allowed the most points during the regular season and then reached the playoffs was Asseco Prokom in 2010. But Prokom also played a Top 16 phase during which its defense ranked seventh.
The 16.5-point swing, from 81.0 points in the regular season to 64.5 points in the postseason helped make Efes the first team this century to allow the most points in all games before the playoffs before locking things up on defense and marching to the EuroLeague title.