Hours before the Boston Celtics were putting the Miami Heat on the brink of elimination, Beşiktaş Milangaz was doing the same to 13-time national champion Anadolu Efes in whupping the Euroleaguers, winning 81-55 at the Black Eagles’ nest.
In short, Beşiktaş destroyed on the boards, beating the disheartened Anadolu 40 to 20 in the stat. David Hawkins put in a monstrous 23 points on 9-of-12 overall shooting, while “Nana Yaw Dwene Mensah Bonsu” (Pops!) contributed a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds including five offensive … ah, let’s just cut to the chase. BallinEurope knows what you want. The game brief will continue in a moment, but now, the YouTube highlight dunk of the night…
As YouTube user MrFigret says, “He is our star and real fighter.”
Carlos Arroyo was good for another 13 for Beşiktaş, as Erwin Dudley/Ersin Dağli accounted for 12 points on 6-of-9 mostly inside and seven rebounds.
Not too many clips exist from last night’s TBL championship series game four, but here’s a nicely-done summary of game three from Basket24gr; Mensah-Bonsu monster dunk begins at about 2:43 in.
Below runs a handful of fan vids for that you-are-there-at-Abdi-İpekçi feeling – the first one is even shot in 3D; you know, if you’ve got some of those glasses handy. (Now how about the Pops dunks? Can we get *those* in 3D?)
Game five, in which Anadolu could be eliminated while Beşiktaş earns its first Turkish league title since 1975, is set for Friday night at Abdi İpekçi Salonu.
(Incidentally, the Celtics could eliminate the Heat in Miami on Thursday night. BiE knows this has little relevance to Beşiktaş-Anadolu or European basketball at all, but loves the prospect of Miami being bounced again, even if it does get Boston in the finals…)
