Anadolu Efes Istanbul beat Beşiktaş 95:81 in the Super League on Saturday evening. The hosts ran out comfortable winners at home, extending a run of results that has put them back in contention for a top-four finish. It was a straightforward night for the home side, who took control early and never really looked back.
Efes kept their tempo up throughout, using their defence to create chances and converting when it mattered. Beşiktaş had moments where they stayed in the game, but they could not find a rhythm that would have allowed them to close the gap. The visitors rolled the dice at times, but the shots simply did not fall for them.
The statistics tell the story without needing much interpretation. Efes shot 34 from 69 field goals and hit 7 of 23 three-point attempts, while Beşiktaş managed 31 from 65 and 10 from 23 from distance. The hosts also won the battle on the boards with 31 rebounds to 32, but their 11 steals compared to just 6 from the visitors showed who controlled the pace. Turnovers were telling too — Beşiktaş coughed up the ball 20 times to Efes's 11.
and here's the thing, we had this one pencilled in before kickoff. Our prediction was a home win at 53 per cent confidence, and it came good. Efes were the better side on paper, and Beşiktaş were coming off a heavy defeat to Fenerbahçe that seemed to have drained something from them.
by then, Efes had already built enough of a cushion to make the final minutes routine. They had won three of their last four before this game, including a solid win over Zenit, while Beşiktaş had lost five of their last five across all competitions. The visitors had not beaten Fenerbahçe in any of those recent meetings, which said enough about their confidence levels.
the result keeps Efes in fourth place with 20 wins and 10 defeats from 30 games. Beşiktaş remain second with 25 wins and 5 losses, but they have now dropped points in consecutive outings. The gap between them and the leaders has not changed, but the momentum has shifted away from Istanbul's visitors.
