On Friday, a real basketball spectacle was held in Istanbul, while Barca won a heart-breaking drama in the last year's Turkish Airlines EuroLeague final repeat.
| Player of the Game | |
|
EFF
25
|
| Sertac Sanli | |
| Points | 24 |
| Accuracy | 9-11 |
| Rebounds | 3 |
| Assists | 1 |
The duel included overtime, Ergin Ataman's ejection, Rokas Jokubaitis' game-deciding circus shot, monstrous individual performances, and fuming fouled out stars.
As it was noticed by Arale Weisberg of WallaSport, it was not the only time such a breathtaking match occurred when the Championship Game rematch is being held (for the first time in a new EuroLeague campaign).
In the 2019-20 EuroLeague season, the same Anadolu Efes met reigning champions CSKA Moscow and the contest was decided by a one-point difference. The Russian powerhouse got a narrow victory 81-80, as Mike James delivered a tough game-winning jumper with 17.5 seconds to play.
One year earlier, in the 2018-19 campaign, EuroLeague runner-ups Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul prevailed winners Real Madrid 65-63. Luigi Datome scored a superb game-winning 2+1 with six seconds remaining on the clock.
2nd place holders Olympiacos Piraeus edged out champions Fenerbahce 90-83 in an overtime thriller of the 2017-18 EuroLeague campaign. Jan Vesely's two successful free-throws transferred the duel to overtime but OLY were a better team in an additional 5-minute phase.
Last but not least drama occurred in the 2016-17 season when runner-ups Fenerbahce faced CSKA who were leading the route. In another match, which was decided by OT performance, Fener outscored Moscow's club by 16 points in the extra time and celebrated the double-digit win (95-79).
Bobby Dixon inspired a spectacular finish for the Turkish powerhouse, completing the game with 25 points.
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