Cologne (Germany), May 30, 2021 – For the first time in its history, theAnadolu Efes Istanbul climbs to the roof of Europe winning the Euroleague after beating Barcelona 86-81 at the end of a final of extraordinary beauty and rare intensity. The Turkish team led by coach Ergin Ataman had the great merit of being able to react to the early escape attempt of the Blaugranas – who between the first and second quarters also flew to +10 – without losing their temper, taking away their certainties with a patient attack. acquired defensively and hitting them repeatedly with the jabs of the pairing composed of Shane Larkin (21 points with 12/12 in the line) and from theMVP of the Final Four – and of the regular season – Vasilije Micic (25 points), climb of shots after a difficult start and capable of making the difference in the two central quarters and in the final head-to-head. Barça for its part, while struggling to find clean solutions in attack, still managed, despite the opaque tests of MIrotic and Calathes, to remain clinging to the match until the final bars thanks above all to the superlative contributions of Brandon Davies (17 points and 11 rebounds), Cory Higgins (23 points with 4/6 from three and 7/7 to free) e Kyle Kuric (18 points), but in the end the effort was not enough.
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After a balanced start and dominated by the plays of Davies on one side and Sanli on the other, Barça raises the engine by closing the defensive shirts with a double turn of the key and putting a muzzle on Micic and Larkin. Higgins, Kuric and Bolmaro in attack and propitiate the tear that straddles the first and second quarters the Catalan +10 is worth (25-15). At the best, however, the Blaugrana offensive phase gets stuck and the Turkish response arrives it first turns into a 7-0 break and then into overtaking by Larkin with the stopwatch stopped (29-30). The Efes regains confidence and, taking advantage of a shrewd Larkin to find easy trips to the bezel, stretches up to +7 (31-38), before Kuric’s five consecutive points that bring the Catalans closer to the interval (36-39).
After the long pause, it is Micic who lights up with nine points in a few seconds handkerchief, which make the Barcelona at -11 on 41-52. In order not to capitulate, Barça must then cling to the baskets of Higgins and Mirotic who write the Iberian -7 on the scoreboard with 10 ‘from the end (58-65). Jasikievicius’ men believe it and, despite the good work of the Turkish defense, they accelerate again with Mirotic and Bolmaro who equalize the score at an altitude of 69. Ataman is thus forced to reject a Micic in the fray with four fouls to his credit, but the Serbian does not fall into the Blaugrana traps and repays the trust placed in him by sending very heavy points to the target which, together with the play in Singleton’s picture push the Efes again to +6 with 13 ”from the end (78-84). The last, desperate attempt to recover Barcelona is entrusted to the three free throws scored by Kuric a few moments later, but it is not enough because Micic always puts the cup in the safe from the charity line.
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