After the triumph on the Monaco pitch, Milan also beat Fenerbahce at the Assago Forum and is fully back in the running for play-in qualification. An extraordinary first half with Melli as protagonist and the decisive baskets from Mirotic and Shields in the point-to-point final relaunched the ambitions of the Messina team, now tenth in the standings (tied) with three rounds to go
RED STAR – VIRTUS BOLOGNA 94-79 – RANKING
Domination at the beginning, management in the middle and suffering at the end. Olimpia Milano experiences all possible phases during the match against Fenerbahce, but in the final minutes with a cool head, the plays of their champions and a pinch of luck in the last throw manages to win and earn tenth position in the standings. The Messina team, for the first time in months, is in the play-in zone, albeit paired with three other teams. In the last three days we won’t have to do anything wrong to complete an incredible comeback.
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The chronicle of the match
Glittering start of Milan, which scores threes with extreme ease (5/8) and boasts, as with Monaco, the excellent offensive impact of the Melli-Mirotic couple. Even in defense the intensity is high and keeps Fener’s athletic exuberance at bay. The 28-18 in the first quarter the crowd at the Assago Forum is thrilled and is starting to understand that the performance two days ago against Monaco was not an isolated case. In the second period Olimpia’s percentages from the arc dropped (0/7), but they continued to force many turnovers from the Turks and eliminated the main bogeymen, Wilbekin and Motley, from the match. In attack, however, he finds his long players inspired, from Melli up to the “benchers” Voigtmann and Poythress, who they extend to +17 (39-22). However, the yellow-blacks woke up and managed to show up at half-time with only seven points to gnaw (43-36) thanks to the first high notes of Motley, Dorsey and Wilbekin. Fenerbahce continues its comeback in the second half, but Milan reacts despite not finding a shot from outside and with captain Melli sitting on the bench for a long time to catch his breath. Shields takes a lot of responsibility in one on one and, earning several free throws, maintains a good lead for EA7 al 30′ (59-51). Jasikevicius’ team dies hard and clings to the energy of Motley (59-56) to return to breathing down their necks. The rabbit with the top hat for Milan, however, becomes Stefano Tonut, who scores two triples in a row and tries to give serenity. Even with all the 90 players returning to the pitch, Milan struggled to construct clean shots and got bogged down, also due to Napier’s unfortunate management of possessions. Guests instead get answers from all their best performers, of Hayes-Davis and Guduric passing for Wilbekin, scored 5 triples in a row after missing the first 5 at the start of the match: his is the overtaking at 68-69. The last three minutes thus become an exciting head-to-head, with Mirotic and Shields, who if not them, who scored 7 consecutive points for 77-73. Biberovic invents a crazy triple from the corner with 8 seconds left to keep the game alive. Olimpia’s final throw-in was a disaster which risks causing a turnover, but the fight and rebounds reward the home team: ends 77-76 to the delight of the Forum. For the first time since October Milan is among the top ten in the rankings, who would have thought it a week ago after the defeat against Baskonia.
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The Euroleague ranking: Milan is tenth
The scoreboard of the match
Olimpia Milan: Poythress 9, Bortolani, Tonut 6, Melli 17, Napier 6, Flaccadori, Hall 7, Caruso n.e., Shields 15, Mirotic 13, Hines, Voigtmann 4
Fenerbahce: Motley 13, Wilbekin 15, Sanli 6, Papagiannis, Hayes-Davis 10, Biberovic 13, Noua, Guduric 8, Dorsey 9, Calathes 2, Madar ne, Sestina