Anadolu Efes vs Real Madrid prediction for Thursday’s Euroleague quarter-finals playoffs second match at Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul. After a very comfortable first match win 90-63, Efes will host Real Madrid for the second time in three days. Follow on for our free prediction and betting tips.
Anadolu Efes completely dominant
It wasn’t expected to be as comfortable as this, as the Turkish side took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Efes were only troubled in the first two quarters as they completely took control in the third and fourth quarters. They started the third quarter with a 13-3 run and built on that lead ever since and never looked back.
Frenchman Beaubois was their leading scorer with 19 points with Sanli and Larkin adding 16 and 14 points respectively. The Turkish side were on fire from the three-point arc hitting 14 out of 36 attempts and had a 51% shooting record from the mid-range. It was a commanding performance and coach Erdin Ataman will hope for a similar one coming Thursday to take a commanding 2-0 lead to Madrid.
Real Madrid need to bounce back
It wasn’t a good start for Los Blancos in this year’s Euroleague playoffs, to say the least. Real could only manage to hang on for two quarters before they collapsed in the third against the tough defense of the Turkish side. Losing by 27 points is a huge margin for coach Pablo Laso’s side. The Spaniard has one day to regroup and prepare his team for a crucial second game.
With 13 turnovers due to the very high-intensity pressure imposed by the Turkish side, Real players couldn’t cope with it and made many mistakes, and letting their opponents have 12 offensive rebounds, coach Laso’s team gave their opponents so many second chances. Real Madrid shot just 33% from all distances way off their season average of 48%.
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Anadolu Efes vs Real Madrid Prediction
Coach Erdin Ataman has found the way to beat Real Madrid it seems and that is to play tough defense and let the Real players do mistakes. It has paid off in the first match and we expect the Turkish side to play the same style.
Real, on the other hand, need to improve a lot if they want to tie the series. Coach Laso knows his team underperforms under high-intensity pressing and he will urge his team to circulate the ball quicker.
We had predicted for the first match to end in under 164 points and we were correct!
We think Real will improve their defense and fight more for a win. Thus that will keep the score low.
Anadolu Efes vs Real Madrid Betting Tips
Under 161.5 Total Match Points 1.90 at bet365
Over 38.5 Total 1st quarter points 1.52 at bet365