Three days after the home win against Zalgiris Kaunas, the Alba Berlin basketball players narrowly missed another surprise in the Euroleague.
On Thursday evening (December 7th, 2023), the Bundesliga team lost to the Turkish champions Anadolu Efes Istanbul at home in front of 7,116 spectators, despite a good performance, 89:97 (40:37). Alba remains at the bottom of the premier class. The best Berlin throwers were world champion Johannes Thiemann with 31 and Gabriele Procida with 16 points.
After a balanced start, Alba fell behind in the first quarter. The hosts, who were still missing the injured quartet Sterling Brown, Matt Thomas, Louis Olinde and Ziga Samar, had a very difficult time offensively – especially under the basket. At the beginning of the second period, the Berliners were behind 21:29.
Thiemann and Procida strong
But then they improved and Thiemann and Procida got rolling. The duo scored 31 of their team’s total 40 points in the first half alone. The defense also acted very consistently. Shortly before halftime they took the lead again (36:32).
Turks shine with three-point throws
The Berliners were able to hold the lead for a long time after the break. But at the end of the third quarter, Efes was back thanks to her successful three-point shots. The lead now changed back and forth. With 139 seconds to go, the guests were able to pull ahead to 89:82. Alba could no longer counter that.