By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Thanks to an almost perfect first half and despite seeing the lead reduce only to one possession, Milano pulled the upset in front of red-and-white Italian fans, beating Real Madrid 81-76.
Both Shavon Shields and Nikola Mirotic were huge for Ettore Messina’s team. The 29-year-old small forward – called up by Denmark for the upcoming 2025 FIBA EuroBasket Qualifiers – had 27 points over 4/8 from deep. “We’ve been fighting all year, we’ve got to figure out to put together second halves”, he commented in the flash interview after the game.
His partner, who started his professional career with Real Madrid, contributed 23 points and 5 boards. “It was an important game for us, we were motivated tonight. After the first five minutes, we started to push in offense, everybody was fighting and doing the right small details. All the games we have left we have to build and take them super seriously one by one”, he also said after beating Real Madrid.
“The team played well in the first half, we limited damages in the third quarter against the EuroLeague champions. In the fourth quarter, we were tired, we didn’t make so many good decisions, but we created good situations defensively”, Ettore Messina said after the victory over Real Madrid.
On the losing side, Real Madrid didn’t have one sole star emerging in Forum to take over. It was a collective effort in the second half to try to reduce the deficit, with only forward Dzanan Musa, Mario Hezonja, and Gabriel Deck finishing the night in double-digits, combining for 33 points.
“We didn’t play well at all in the first half, we didn’t play. We allowed them to get a big advantage and it wasn’t easy for us to come back. They were hungrier than us today”, Chus Mateo commented, as his team came back to one possession (79-76) with 2:00 minutes left. Too late to come out with the win.
The Italian side had a perfect twenty minutes, producing an outstanding 21-0 run between the first and second half from 15-19 down to 36-19 up. Going to the locker rooms at halftime, Ettore Messina’s team was leading by 21 points (48-27), and ended up dominating with 15 offensive rebounds.
Milano was coming off two straight defeats on the road against Panathinaikos and Anadolu Efes and bounced back. After winning three consecutive games against Olympiacos, Maccabi Tel Aviv, and ASVEL at home, Real Madrid found an unexpected loss away in Italy, at least for how it came.
Taking some needed time off in the EuroLeague, Milano will play its first game back in the competition on the road against ASVEL on the 1st of March after the break for national cups and the FIBA window; Real Madrid, instead, will host Panathinaikos on February 29 for the EuroLeague Round 27.
PHOTO CREDIT: EA7 Emporio Armani Milano