Efes, beaten on the road by Lithuania’s Lietuvos Rytas in game one, rebounded at home in game two to crush Serbia’s Partizan 77-67 at İstanbul’s Abdi İpekçi Sports Arena last Thursday night, improving its record to 1-1 in the tough group and boosting its chances of making the Top 16.
Charles Smith, Preston Shumpert and Igor Rakocevic were the outstanding players for Efes last week, and if these players can find their rhythm, then the İstanbul side stands a chance of getting a good result.
Unicaja, however, is no spring chicken, so Efes will really need to work hard for victory. The Spanish side remained undefeated after crushing Greece’s Olympiacos 86-68 at home last Wednesday to retain its place on top of the standings.
Taquan Dean was the top scorer for Unicaja with 19 points, Pooh Jeter added 11 while Joel Freeland and Robert Archibald had 10 each. Freeland also had 11 rebounds for a double-double. Efes needs to rein in these players to avoid a debacle.
Other Euroleague matches today are: Zalgiris vs. Regal FC Barcelona, Partizan vs. Entente Orleanaise, Maccabi Electra vs. CSKA Moscow, Union Olimpija vs. Caja Laboral and Real Madrid vs. Panathinaikos.
Live on Sky Türk
21:45 Unicaja Malaga-Efes Pilsen
