By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Mike James put on an energetic performance and pushed Olimpia Milano to an 87-83 home win over Maccabi Tel Aviv in Round 23 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
This was a very important win for Milano in the playoff race which puts them at a 12-11 record and temporarily inside the playoff zone while securing a tiebreaker over Maccabi which, on the other hand, stayed out of playoff zone with 10-13.
James nailed 19 points including a crucial triple for Milano’s win while he also added five assists. Curtis Jerrells scored 16 and Jeff Brooks 15 points while James Nunnally added 13.
For Maccabi, Scottie Wilbekin scored 20 points in addition to Michael Roll’s 16 and Johny O’Bryant’s 14 points.
Milano coach Simone Pianigiani was very proud of his players’ effort: “We are not looking for the rankings now, we are looking for our project to be better, to keep fighting and it is not the moment for us because we have a very tough schedule, but for us it is important that with the changing lineup or situation, my players showed their desire to compete. This is also important. We know that we have some problems in the big man position, but tonight everybody made an extra effort, especially in the second half.”
Milano had a great start shooting 8-11 from the field but O’Bryant banked 10 points to keep Maccabi ahead after the first quarter (22-20). Both teams fired up in the second period as they banked four shots from deep each with Wilbekin nailing the last one at the buzzer to tie the score at halftime (47-47).
James and Brooks scored five points each and ignited Milano’s 13-2 run after the break which put them ahead 60-53 but Maccabi rather quickly recovered and took the lead early in the final period (69-68) after Roll’s triple. The game stayed exciting with the lead switching sides but James’ crazy buzzer triple gave Milano a seven-point lead (80-73) with less than three minutes left from which the guests couldn’t recover although they came dangerously close.
“I think today was a big fight for the playoffs between two very good teams. It was a derby ’till the end of the game and was just decided by small details… We stayed in the game and tried to win at the end but I think the lead Armani got three or four minutes before the end was crucial and helped the local team win the game”, Maccabi coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos noted.