By Cesare Milanti / info@Eurohoops.net
BOLOGNA, Italy – Meeting their fans at the Segafredo Arena for the first time in these LBA Finals, Virtus Bologna managed to reduce the gap to 2-1 by beating Olimpia Milano 69-61 in an impressive showing.
Daniel Hackett dragged the home team to the impressive win with 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. Going close to a double-double with 12 points and 7 assists, Milos Teodosic wrote history, becoming Virtus Bologna’s best playoff assist man in the club’s history in just four years with the Italian side.
Being effective on offense for his team as the captain from the very beginning, Marco Belinelli scored 10 points, just like Jordan Mickey. Tornike Shengelia was also a crucial piece for Virtus Bologna, ending the game with 4 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Scoring 15 points with 3/7 from beyond the arc, Billy Baron was the only player on Olimpia Milano’s side on a double-digit. Shavon Shields, being conditioned by his second foul coming with only 1:22 left in the first quarter, ended the game with 8 points.
Despite not contributing much scoring-wise, Johannes Voigtmann had a solid night with 6 assists and 5 rebounds. It surely wasn’t Shabazz Napier’s night, as the 31-year-old former Washington Wizards point guard had 7 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 turnovers.
Pretty easy night for Virtus Bologna
Following a great tifo by Virtus Bologna’s fans, the game started with two easy back-to-back three-pointers by Billy Baron and Shabazz Napier. When Marco Belinelli banked in his first long-distance shot of the night with 2:47 minutes on, thousands of fans erupted. Milano relied a lot on three-pointers in the first quarter, attempting 13 of them and closing it up 18-16.
With 4:54 left in the second quarter, Daniel Hackett hyped his black-and-white fans after putting Virtus Bologna up by six points, and Milos Teodosic extended it seconds later, giving his team a comfortable nine-point lead (29-20). However, Ettore Messina’s team didn’t lose composure and reduced the gap to five points (34-29) heading to the locker rooms at halftime.
The second half couldn’t start better for the home side, which went ahead 44-33 with 5:40 left in the third quarter for the highest lead of the game until that point. The image of Virtus Bologna’s superiority came two minutes later when Toko Shengelia dunked alone in transition following Milano’s umpteenth turnover of the game.
After ending the third period of the game up 52-42, it was just a matter of time for Virtus Bologna to go all the way to the end. In the fourth quarter, in fact, Sergio Scariolo’s team only had to keep control of the situation, after trying to reduce the gap twice in the first two clashes of the series. The icing on the cake was Toko Shengelia’s no-look pass to Jordan Mickey for the 12-point lead (65-53) with 2:03 on the clock. Overall, both teams struggled from the three-point line (Virtus 6/27, Milano 10/37).
Nothing changed in terms of roster choices after Game 2. Ettore Messina sidelined Kevin Pangos, Brandon Davies, Nazareth Mitrou-Long, DeShaun Thomas, and Davide Alviti. His colleague Sergio Scariolo left out Ismael Bako, Gabriel Iffe Lundberg, Kyle Weems, and Leo Menalo.
In the first two games of this Italian League Finals series, Olimpia Milano managed to get home with the upper hand, but Sergio Scariolo’s team fought until the end, especially in Game 2. Following the latter, Daniel Hackett and Milos Teodosic were involved in an altercation with Milano fans. However, neither of the two was suspended: they had to pay 3.000 euros, while Milano was sanctioned with a 12.000 euro fine.
LBA Finals results and schedule
Olimpia Milano – Virtus Bologna, G1: 92-82
Olimpia Milano – Virtus Bologna, G2: 79-76
Virtus Bologna – Olimpia Milano, G3: 69-61
Virtus Bologna – Olimpia Milano, G4 (16/06 at 20:30 CET)
Olimpia Milano – Virtus Bologna, G5 * (19/06 at 20:30 CET)
Virtus Bologna – Olimpia Milano, G6 * (21/06 at 20:30 CET)
Olimpia Milano – Virtus Bologna, G7 * (23/06 at 20:30 CET)
*If needed.
PHOTO CREDIT: Virtus Segafredo Bologna