By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
MILAN, Italy – Resting in the second week of this year’s EuroLeague Regular Season due to the ongoing situation in Israel, Milan bounced back from the Round 1 defeat against Fenerbahce with an important home 65-53 victory over Olympiacos, which suffered his second straight defeat.
Following his monster performance in Round 1 on the road against Fenerbahce, Nikola Mirotic led again his new team in scoring, providing 20 points and 5 rebounds with 8/16 from the field to Ettore Messina’s team, scoring the decisive dagger from deep with 2:36 minutes left.
“It was a very important game for us, we wanted to win against a Final Four contender. We played very good defense, we have to stay humble and keep grinding. We’re here to send a message: we will try to get on the top of the EuroLeague”, the 32-year-old superstar commented right after the victory.
Struggling in the first half, Kevin Pangos came back solidly on the court in the second half to provide the home team’s offensive push, scoring 16 points with 3/5 from deep and heavily contributing to his team’s victory. Shavon Shields followed them, adding 12 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals.
With this game, Kyle Hines became the All-Time EuroLeague leader for games played with 393, and he commented on that right following the win. “Anything is possible, I’m very fortunate to be here today, to be playing here with these great teammates and celebrate this win. To everybody out there: just keep dreaming and keep moving”, the legendary American center said in the post-game flash interview.
“It’s been a special night for our club, for Gigi Datome and Kyle Hines. We had a lot of good shots but we didn’t shoot well, but our defense carried us for the whole game and it was very important to execute better on offense late in the game. This gave us an idea of how we have to continue playing”, Ettore Messina said in the post-game press conference after beating the Greek powerhouse.
Being dominant on the glass for the Greek team, powering up 15 points with 6/8 from two-point range, Nikola Milutinov was one of the best players on the visiting side. Thomas Walkup provided an efficient all-around night with 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists, playing 29:55 minutes.
“A very poor offensive performance from our team, we counted thirteen missing layup shots just around the rim. We could have scored some easy looks we had. It was a really strange game. We had 26.0% from threes, we collapsed with bad decisions on offense late, we lost confidence and Milan took advantage of this”, Georgios Bartzokas said after losing on Italian soil.
After a pretty balanced first quarter with Olimpia Milano leading by only two points (19-17), the momentum seemed to switch with 3:01 minutes until halftime, when Isaiah Canaan was ejected from the game after committing an offensive foul, complaining with the referees, and finally receiving his second technical foul – his first one came just two minutes into the game. However, Nikola Milutinov stepped up to bring his team up 32-31 at the end of the second quarter.
After Ettore Messina’s time-out with 7:52 minutes on the clock in the third quarter, the home side came back on the court with more pride, entering a 7-0 run for the 38-34 lead with Kevin Pangos scoring from deep to force Georgios Bartzokas’s time-out one minute and a half later. Despite Johannes Voigtmann being awarded a technical foul for flopping with 2:37 minutes before the fourth period, Olympiacos couldn’t come back entering the last ten minutes, trailing by three points (44-41).
Olympiacos rapidly found once again the 45-44 lead with a monster baseline poster by Moustapha Fall over Johannes Voigtmann with 8:51 on the clock. However, Kevin Pangos followed on his great run, banking in a deep three-pointer to give Milan the four-point lead (49-45) with 6:57 left.
They went on to extend it in the following ninety seconds, being up 53-45. Giannoulis Larentzakis left the game committing his 5th foul with 4:50 on the clock, and Nicolò Melli closed things up with a step-back three-pointer with 1:22 on the clock in the fourth, extending the closing run to 16-2.
Before the game, Gigi Datome was celebrated by his people in Milan following his recent retirement from basketball after the 2023 FIBA World Cup. “I thought I wouldn’t get emotional again, and instead here we are. Not everybody had the privilege of feeling loved, respected, and esteemed even in tough moments like me”, he said. He was also officially inducted into the Italian club’s Hall of Fame, alongside Mason Rocca, Keith Langford, Curtis Jerrells, Rakim Sanders, Krunoslav Simon, and Vladimir Micov
In the second encounter of the first double-game week for this year’s EuroLeague Regular Season, Ettore Messina’s team will travel to Madrid to face the reigning champions on October 19 at 20:45 CET. Thirty minutes before, the red-and-white Greek side will have its tip-off at home against Partizan Belgrade.
PHOTO CREDIT: EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
Read all the latest news from the basketball world