The revenge of the 2019 Euroleague final, won by CSKA Moscow (91-83), was one-sided for nearly 35 minutes, before offering a nice suspense in its money-time. Anadolu Efes Istanbul finally dominated the Russian defending champion (89-86) and therefore qualified for the final on Sunday, in Cologne (Germany), where he will face the winner of Barcelona-Milan.
The first three quarters, marked by Turkish defensive mastery, combined with a very attractive attacking game (71-55, 30th) had left little doubt about the identity of the first finalist of the competition. Carried by the MVP of the regular season, the Serbian point guard Vasilije Micic (25 points), the club of Rodrigue Beaubois (15 points) and Adrien Moerman (6 points) – who could be joined by Léo Westermann (Barcelona) in the final – s ‘is however a scare at the entrance of the last five minutes, in particular because of the overflowing activity of the winger Will Clyburn (25 points).
Micic’s exit for five fouls was not unrelated to the Muscovites’ return to scoring, who even came down to a small point (86-87) with one minute to go. After a three-point shot missed by Shane Larkin (11 points), CSKA got two shots in order to switch to the lead. After a failed long shot attempt by Clyburn 16 seconds from the buzzer, Darrun Hilliard inexplicably tried his luck at the same distance as his team could have attempted a two-point buzzer shot. Clyburn, again, missed the winning shot with one second from time, Larkin punctuating the game on the throwing line.
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