“First of all, it was very important for me to win this match and conclude the league at the top spot. There are two reasons for this. For the last six or seven years, Anadolu Efes couldn’t manage to finish the league on top. Today, we accomplished this. We will have the home court advantage in every round we play. And our matchups do not carry overwhelming importance, either. Our opponent will be Royal Halı Gaziantep, against whom we were defeated twice during the regular season. We could have matched up with Pınar Karşıyaka or Muratbey Uşak Sportif, but they are very formidable teams, too. We are also very strong, and we are one of the favorites. It was important to finish at the top spot. I would like to congratulate my lads for their reaction. Motivation was important to us today. For Darüşşafaka Doğuş, though, it wasn’t as important. They clinched the fourth spot last week, and their opponent is already determined. Therefore, the match did not have decisive value. I would also like to congratulate them. Both for concluding the league at the fourth spot, and for their high-quality matches in the Euroleague. I hope all the teams can stay healthy and put up good matches in the playoffs.”

Anadolu Efes’s captain Doğuş Balbay also stated his thoughts: “First of all, I would like to congratulate all our staff and my teammates. After a long and closely contested marathon, we finished the Spor Toto Basketball League at the top spot. Yet of course, it is not enough for such a long-rooted club to finish on top. We want more, but we are still happy. I hope we will conclude this season at the best possible spot by fighting in a manner that is befitting to Efes. As to the match; it was our match to finish as leaders. We prepared for the match with this in mind. We reflected our trainings onto the match, and managed to keep the lead in the majority of the game. Playoffs will be hard, and we will need all our players. We will play against Royal Halı Gaziantep in the next round. We want to make a good start into the playoffs.”