The German national basketball player Tibor Pleiss has won the Euroleague again with Anadolu Efes Istanbul.
In the final in Belgrade on Saturday, the Turkish club defeated Real Madrid 58:57 (29:34). Istanbul is the first club to retain the Euroleague title since Olympiacos Piraeus 2013.
Walter Tavares dominated in the early minutes: the 2.20 meter tall Real Madrid center scored twelve of his team’s first 15 points. At the Turkish club, Shane Larkin and Vasilije Micic took over offensively, the guard duo had scored 23 of Istanbul’s 29 points at the break. However, Madrid went into the dressing room with a 34:29 lead.
19 points by Pleiß
The defending champions continued to struggle against the Madrilenians’ defence, in the third quarter Real opened up to a difference of up to nine points. Istanbul came back in the final section, also thanks to Pleiß: The German center scored ten of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, 65 seconds before the end Pleiß typed in the offensive rebound to make it 58:55. In the final seconds, Madrid no longer had a chance to throw.
Pleiß is just one of two German players to have won the Euroleague: in 2003, the German national basketball player Patrick Femerling achieved this with FC Barcelona.
Before the final, FC Barcelona beat Olympiacos Piraeus 84:74 (45:38) in the match for third place. The Spanish club gave away 23 assists, a record for a Euroleague final tournament. Playmaker Nick Calathes gave out 13 assists, while Nikola Mirotic (19 points) became the top scorer.