By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
For most of the night, ALBA Berlin was trailing Milan, but in the end, Nikola Mirotic missed and couldn’t send the game to overtime as the hosts managed to get the 85-82 win.
It was a total turnaround led by Johannes Thiemann, who scored 22 points and had also six rebounds, registering a new EuroLeague personal best in scoring.
Former NBAer Sterling Brown added 18 points for the winning side, which was back by 10 points (71-61) in the 32nd minute of the game and got the lead for the first time after the 7th minute of the game practically in the closing seconds.
Coach Israel Gonzalez admitted his satisfaction: “I am very proud of my players, after a game in which Milan seemed to have everything under control, it was difficult but we kept pushing and pushing until the end”.
Brown played wearing a protective mask, but this didn’t stop him from doing damage.
“We had a lot of guys come out and just do what they do. We have a lot of young guys and they brought the energy. We just stayed with it. Stayed with the offensive concepts and defensive schemes and we came out with the win,” he said having also 5 rebounds and 5 assists in the victory.
“I just have to go out there and perform. It’s no stress. This is basketball. I just gotta stay in a rhythm and get more comfortable,” he also commented about the way he needs to adapt even more to the European game.
“I feel that we threw away an opportunity”
Milan led even by 12 (52-40) and got 30 points from Nikola Mirotic. However, he missed his last three-pointer attempt which could have sent the game to overtime.
He also grabbed 12 rebounds, but ultimately he couldn’t save the day.
Shavon Shields also had a big scoring night with 25 points, but he was not enough for Milan.
As coach Ettore Messina admitted after the game: “On one hand, we have two great players, but on the other hand, maybe we thought they could solve the problems on their own. We need to perform in the other positions as well.”
And he added: “With all respect to ALBA’s performance, I feel that we threw away an opportunity, we build – I think – four times advantages in double digits during the game. We couldn’t finish the game and we allowed eight offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter”.
The two teams have now one win with Milan on a 1-3 record with one game less and ALBA being at 1-4.
Photo credit: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague