Efes wins its first EuroLeague crown

Anadolu Efes Istanbul is the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion for the first time!

Final Four

Final

game Anadolu Efes Istanbul vs FC Barcelona

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

30 May 2021, 18:30

Final Four

30 May 2021, 18:30

Final Four

FC BarcelonaFCB

81

86

Anadolu Efes IstanbulEFS

Final Score

l

w

l

w

l

Anadolu Efes Istanbul outlasted FC Barcelona 81-86 on Sunday night in the championship game of the 2021 Final Four at Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany. The victory made all the players on the team champions for the first time as well as Ergin Ataman, who became the first Turkish-born head coach to lift the trophy. Barcelona came back from an 11-point deficit to tie the game in the fourth quarter and was within 1 with 3:25 remaining, but Vasilije Micic scored 7 points in the final 3 minutes to make sure Efes went home with the trophy. Micic finished with 25 points and 5 assists, while his backcourt mate Shane Larkin added 21 points. Sertac Sanli chipped in with 12 for the winners. Cory Higgins led Barcelona with 23 points and Kyle Kuric netted 18. Brandon Davies tallied 17 points and 11 rebounds and Nikola Mirotic added 11 and 9 for Barcelona, which came up short in its bid to win its third continental crown and first since 2010.

Barcelona opened the scoring on the game's first possession through a Victor Claver tip-in before Davies picked Krunoslav Simon's pocket and raced for a slam. Sanli scored twice inside to get Efes going. Sanli remained a weapon inside; his three-point play and a free throw on the next possession gave Efes a 6-8 lead. Davies went to work for Barcelona with a basket-plus-foul on the offensive glass, a score in the paint and drawing 2 fouls from Sanli. After Chris Singleton's free throws briefly gave Efes the lead, Davies put back his own miss and Higgins drilled a three-pointer. Kuric added a free throw and a layup to make it 20-13. After Micic free throws and a fastbreak bucket from Kuric, Barcelona led 22-15 after 10 minutes.

Krunoslav Simon, Anadolu Efes Istanbul
Vasilije Micic, Anadolu Efes Istanbul
Shane Larkin, Anadolu Efes Istanbul

A basket-plus-foul from Leandro Bolmaro in transition gave Barcelona a double-digit advantage. Adrien Moerman's tip started the Efes revival. Bolmaro committed an unsportsmanlike foul on Larkin after a steal and the resulting free throws and a Tibor Pleiss triple – Efes's first of the game – made it 25-22, prompting a Barcelona timeout. Simon capped a 0-9 run with a bank shot. Alex Abrines and Higgins gave Barcelona some breathing room with free throws only to see Larkin attack and get to the free-throw line, from where he made 6 shots in a 0-12 run that gave Efes a 29-36 lead. Bolmaro ended the Barcelona drought and Kuric drilled a three from the corner and made a pair of free throws. Rodrigue Beaubois split free throws with 1 second left in the second quarter to send the teams to the locker rooms at halftime with the score 36-39.

Micic scored on either side of an offensive foul called on Higgins as Efes jumped ahead 39-46. Mirotic got his first points of the game, but a four-point play by Micic made it 41-52. Kuric and Larkin traded threes. Higgins shined with a block, a layup and a pull-up three, but Micic was only getting stronger for Efes and Bryant Dunston and Beaubois added points for Efes from the line. Mirotic hit a three to bring Barcelona within 58-65 at the end of the third quarter.

A jumper by Bolmaro early in the fourth quarter drew Barcelona within 3. Sanli countered with an alley-oop dunk courtesy of an assist from Larkin. Davies made a wide-open three and then fed Mirotic for a bucket that tied it at 69-69 with 5 minutes left, which caused Efes to call timeout. Micic responded with a three from the top of the key only to see Higgins answer with a three-point play. Larkin hit back with a basket-plus-foul, too. After Davies and Singleton traded baskets, Micic drove for a layup that made it 74-79 with less than 3 minutes remaining. Micic matched Higgins's free throws with a basket in penetration. Davies missed a three and Kuric missed on the break as Barcelona started to run out of time. Larkin added 2 free throws for a 7-point lead with 32.7 seconds to go and Barcelona missed its next 2 shots. Kuric gave Barcelona hope when he made 3 free throws with 12.1 seconds on the clock to make it 81-84, but Micic got to the line and iced the game with 7.3 seconds left.