The hosts' team effort was the story of the game
On Larkin’s return to action, Efes showed its array of talent to blow out Panathinaikos
Članak
3 Min čitanja
Regular Season
Round 15 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Anadolu Efes Istanbul registered its biggest win of the season on Friday night, and it was against none other than former coach Ergin Ataman and the reigning champs Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens. In a 93-67 win, Efes had a 29-point margin early in the fourth quarter and cruised to victory while totally outplaying the visitors.
The evening was even more meaningful for Efes because of the return of Shane Larkin, who had been out with an ankle injury and last played in Round 5.
"Happy to have everybody back on the roster for the first time after a long, long time," said Efes head coach Tomislav Mijatovic, while also commenting on the importance of Larkin returning to the lineup.
"[Larkin] is our franchise player, our team captain. Our guys did a great job in the past month and a half fighting for him and fighting for the team. It is not easy to play without your team captain. And today, the cherry on top: Shane came back, the effort and energy was there. This is the way we want to look in every game."
Efes had a 4-5 record without Larkin and has now improved to 8-7 with this resounding win over Panathinaikos, which suffered its biggest loss since Coach Ataman arrived in the summer of 2023.
"When you play against a great team that has a great coach, great leadership, you must give your best effort in every way, shape or form. And our guys did that today," Mijatovic stated about his team. "Everybody contributed tremendously, everybody gave their best, and everybody did it in the period they were on the court."
Larkin played 17:28 off the bench, posting 6 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds. He was not much of the factor, and that was the story of the game. On Larkin's return, it was his teammates' effort that stood out.
Jordan Nwora and Vincent Poirier got the team going in the first quarter as Efes opened the game with a 10-2 lead, with 8 of those points coming from Nwora.
Ercan Osmani played a big role on both ends, then Dan Oturu and Rodrigue Beaubois took over, fueling a 14-2 run which Efes used to open a double-digit margin in the second quarter.
All along, Darius Thompson orchestrated the offense to the tune of 9 assists and 0 turnovers, as well as 3 steals, while all 7 of his points came late in the game when Efes was fully in control.
When all was said and done, Beaubois finished as the top scorer for Efes with 16 points, while Nwora collected 15 points plus 8 rebounds, and Oturu scored 15.
"Tonight was a great teamwork, everybody contributed, everybody did a great job," Beaubois said. "We have the potential, but we need to have the mentality. Tonight we had it and we have to use this game to go forward."
Next week brings a double opportunity for Efes to build on this performance, with the two-time EuroLeague champion hosting the two Belgrade teams, first Crvena Zvezda, then Partizan.