By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
When Fenerbahce announced that they are traveling to Turkey without the duo of Sloukas and Vesely and also missing Marko Guduric and Joffrey Lauvergne, everyone expected that AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan will jump to the chance for the win. However, that was not the story of the game as the guests prevailed and with a 24-5 record secured the top of the standings in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague regular season.
Fenerbahce prevailed with ease (104-90) behind a terrific game by Bobby Dixon who scored 23 points, Nikola Kalinic added 22 for a personal best in the EuroLeague, Gigi Datome and Eric Green had 12 points each. On the other hand, a EuroLeague career-high of James Nunnally with 26 points was not enough.
As Fenerbahce’s coach Zeljko Obradovic said: “We came to Milan knowing that we were without some players who are very important for our game, not just Lauvergne, Vesely and Sloukas, but it was also Marko Guduric‘s first practice after he had an injury in a Turkish championship game. So we tried to prepare a different plan for the game, knowing all the quality that Milan has, individual quality, practically all the players in the team can score very easily”.
Fenerbahce led from wire to wire, building a 52-42 lead at halftime and despite a comeback effort by Milan which trailed by five (73-68) at the end of the third, the Turks started the last quarter with a 10-2 run (83-70) and the game was over.
Curtis Jerrels added 20 points for the losing side, while Mike James scored just eight points, making just one out of eight shots. However, it goes without saying that the main problem of the hosts was their almost non-existent defense. The game turned into a shoot out with Fenerbahce having better efficiency (60% in two-pointers, 48,1% in threes) despite playing on the road.
After this result, Milan must win the last regular season game against Anadolu Efes in order to remain part of the playoffs and even this win may not be enough. And that’s why coach Simone Pianigiani tried to boost his team’s moral: “We have the opportunity to play for the playoffs until the last game. This is something for which I have to give to my players this kind of congratulations. Not for tonight, not for the last 10 minutes of the previous game, but I think it is clear that they gave us the chance to be here, pushing over the problems, the injuries and everything, to be in this moment. Now we have to accept a moment like this.”