The Turkish side's near-perfect first half earned its place in the EuroLeague's record books
Fenerbahce set modern playoff record in blowout Game 2 win
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It was a perfect night for Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul as it defended its home-court advantage with an 89-72 victory in Game 2 of its best-of-five playoff series against Paris Basketball. Coach Sarunas Jasikevicius's team has a 2-0 lead and needs just one more win to punch its ticket to Abu Dhabi. This time, it also made sure to please its fans with a truly historical performance.
Fenerbahce scored 61 first-half points, the most by any team since the playoffs came back in 2005, and the most by any team in a quarterfinals game. Kinder Bologna had 65 first-half points against Adeeco Estudiantes in Game 1 of the 2001 eighthfinals, back in the competition's original season. It was its first postseason step to become the first-ever EuroLeague champion.
The hosts' offense was close to perfection, pushed by an incredible crowd that fed off Fenerbahce's energy. Fenerbahce hit 15-of-17 two-pointers (88.2% 2FG), 8-of-13 three-pointers (61.5% 3FG) and 7-of-8 free throws (87.5% FT), getting 11 first-half assists and outrebounding Paris 16-12. Fenerbahce had a first-half PIR of 79, 50 of more than Paris (29).
As many as eight different players had 100% two-point shooting before the break. Four players were also 100% from beyond the arc. Tarik Biberovic led the way with 12 points on 3-of-3 two-pointers and 2-of-2 three-pointers. He finished the game with 20 points, a new career high. Nigel Hayes-Davis had 12 of his 16 points before the break.
It all started for Fenerbahce with a solid first quarter, something that had not happened against Paris before. In three previous games against coach Tiago Splitter's team, Paris always led at the end of the first quarter: 26-16 in Round 17, 17-24 in Round 31 and 18-22 in Game 1 of this series. Not this time, as Fenerbahce was locked in since the opening tip.
Fenerbahce led 29-20 at the end of the first quarter, hitting 5-of-6 two-pointers and 5-of-8 three-pointers, grabbing 8 defensive rebounds in 10 minutes and amassing a PIR of 39.
"The numbers don't really matter; in the playoffs, it's all about taking wins," Jasikevicius told EuroLeague TV after Game 2. "It's all about protecting your home court. In this case, I thought you said we were great in the first half. We need to build on that. And first of all, it is important to be smart and not think that the series is over."
Jasikevicius also had some kind words for the Fenerbahce supporters.
"They were fantastic, really. In general, Game 1 was very difficult moments and today, we controlled the game after the second quarter. But the crowd is special, this Fenerbahce crowd in the playoffs."