2020-21Regular SeasonRound 20
ALBA Berlin 70
AX Armani Exchange Milan 84
January 14, 2021 CET: 20:00
Local time: 20:00 MERCEDES-BENZ ARENA

Milan beats ALBA for third straight win

AX Armani Exchange Milan worked past a slow start to pick up a 70-84 victory over ALBA Berlin in the German capital. Zach LeDay’s 16 points paced four scorers in double figures for Milan, which improved to 12-7 as it chases home-court advantage in the playoffs. Kevin Punter and Luigi Datome both scored 14 points and Kyle Hines collected 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for the winners. ALBA lost its sixth of its last seven games despite Ben Lammers scoring 18 points and Jayson Granger going for 16 points and 6 assists. ALBA dropped to 7-13.

Malcolm Delaney started the game with a three-pointer for Milan with Lammers scoring first for ALBA, which took its first lead 5-3 on a Granger triple. Lammers added a three-point play and Peyton Siva hit from deep as the hosts pulled ahead 13-6. Another Siva triple extended the gap to 18-9. ALBA led 18-13 after 10 minutes. Datome came off the Milan bench and started the second quarter with 2 free throws and a three-pointer, which was followed by a Michael Roll triple for an 18-21 Milan lead. Luke Sikma’s free throws put ALBA finally on the board after more than 2 minutes and a Maodo Lo three-pointer helped the hosts pull back ahead, 25-23. Datome continued his great quarter with 2 triples and LeDay also hit from deep in a 0-11 run in more than 3 minutes to surge ahead 25-34. Granger punched back with 5 points, but Punter countered with a three-point play and triple and the advantage was double digits at 32-42. Milan went into the locker room up 34-42 at the break.

Simone Fontecchio scored first in the second half for the hosts with LeDay draining a triple at the other end. A Granger three-pointer was answered by threes from Punter to increase the gap to 12 points - 41-53. Lammers, Tim Schneider and Granger all connected from deep, but LeDay’s triple maintained the double-digit lead, 50-60. ALBA did a good job defensively, giving up just 2 Sergio Rodriguez free throws in nearly 4 minutes. Schneider’s triple trimmed the deficit to 56-62 before Delaney made it 56-64 after 30 minutes. Milan started the fourth quarter with Jeff Brooks and Riccardo Moraschini knocking down three-pointers to get the advantage to 58-70. Siva and Lammers scored to try to get ALBA closer but Roll hit another triple to extend the cushion to 62-75. LeDay added two scores and Datome’s final triple made it 66-82 with 2 minutes left to put the nail in the coffin.

Hines joins the 300 club

Kyle Hines joined an illustrious group of players who have appeared in 300 EuroLeague games. Also a part of the 300 club along with the 34-year-old Hines are Paulius Jankunas (360 games played) of Zalgiris Kaunas, Felipe Reyes (353) of Real Madrid, Vassilis Spanoulis (342) of Olympiacos Piraeus, retired FC Barcelona legend Juan Carlos Navarro (341), Georgios Printezis (325) of Olympiacos and Nikos Zisis (310).

ALBA slowly getting healthy

ALBA is slowly getting healthy again. While Niels Giffey and Marcus Eriksson are still out injured and Coach Aito Garcia Reneses remains at home after testing positive for COVID-19, Ben Lammers, Peyton Siva and now Luke Sikma have all returned to action the last couple of games for the German champs.

Telling numbers

Milan dished out 28 assists - 1 shy of a club record - and connected on 15 of 30 three-pointers (50.0%) while ALBA was held to just 44.4% percent on two-pointers and picked up just 2 fast-break points.

Next games

Milan will face another German team in the next round as it hosts FC Bayern Munich on Thursday, January 21. ALBA will head onto the road for its next game when it plays at TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz the following evening.

Zach Leday - AX Armani Exchange Milan - EB20
Thursday, January 14, 2021
Euroleague.net
Referees: CHRISTODOULOU, CHRISTOS; SILVA, SERGIO; SHEMMESH, SEFFI
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
ALBA Berlin18162214
AX Armani Exchange Milan13292220
End of Quarter1234
ALBA Berlin18345670
AX Armani Exchange Milan13426484
ALBA Berlin
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 LO, MAODO 18:00 8 1/6 1/1 3/4 2 2 4 5 1 4   1 1 4 10
3 SIVA, PEYTON 16:50 8 1/3 2/4         2   1   1 2   2
6 DELOW, MALTE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 MATTISSECK, JONAS 17:51   0/1 0/1     2 2     1     3 2 -2
10 SCHNEIDER, TIM 15:07 8 1/3 2/3     1 1           1   5
16 NIKIC, KRESIMIR DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 OLINDE, LOUIS 14:05     0/2         1         1   -2
20 FONTECCHIO, SIMONE 29:52 2 1/2 0/3   1 3 4 3           3 8
32 THIEMANN, JOHANNES 26:40 2 1/4 0/2   3 4 7 2   3   1 1 1 2
33 GRANGER, JAYSON 23:22 16 1/2 4/8 2/2   1 1 6 1 2       4 21
43 SIKMA, LUKE 16:42 8 3/3   2/2 1 1 2 1 1       3 2 11
50 LAMMERS, BEN 21:31 18 7/12 1/2 1/1   5 5   2   1   1 1 20
Team           2   2     2          
Totals 200:00 70 16/36 10/26 8/9 9 19 28 20 5 13 1 3 13 17 75
        44.4% 38.5% 88.9%
Head coach: GONZALEZ, ISRAEL
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
AX Armani Exchange Milan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 PUNTER, KEVIN 18:44 14 1/2 3/5 3/3                 3 3 11
2 LEDAY, ZACH 25:05 16 3/5 3/4 1/3 1 4 5     2   1   2 15
3 MORETTI, DAVIDE 1:43     0/1             1       1 -1
9 MORASCHINI, RICCARDO 13:16 3   1/2 0/2   2 2 2 2 3     1 1 3
10 ROLL, MICHAEL 18:39 8 1/3 2/5   1 2 3 1 2   1   3   7
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 18:06 4 1/3 0/1 2/2   1 1 7   3     2 3 7
15 TARCZEWSKI, KALEB 12:49 2 1/3     3 3 6     1 1   2 1 5
19 BILIGHA, PAUL 0:57 2 1/1     1 1 2               4
23 DELANEY, MALCOLM 23:00 5 1/1 1/3   1 4 5 7 2 2     3   12
32 BROOKS, JEFF 18:53 3 0/1 1/3   2 2 4 4     1       9
42 HINES, KYLE 23:25 13 6/9   1/2 1 4 5 5 1 2     2 1 17
70 DATOME, LUIGI 25:23 14 0/1 4/6 2/2   3 3 2         1 1 16
Team           1   1     1          
Totals 200:00 84 15/29 15/30 9/14 11 26 37 28 7 15 3 1 17 13 105
        51.7% 50% 64.3%
Head coach: MESSINA, ETTORE

Head Coaches

MESSINA, ETTORE
AX Armani Exchange Milan

"After a rough start, we managed to move the ball and get good shots. We also shot a good percentage. Because of that, they didn’t run. If you miss or turn the ball over, they are the best fastbreak team in Europe. They run, they share the ball, they’re extremely dangerous. I’m very grateful to the players because they are playing without two very important players - Micov and Shields - and this is not a routine win. We don’t have routine wins in the EuroLeague. Every win is something you have to work hard for.

"It's a very important win for us, because ALBA plays a very high-quality basketball. It’s not easy to beat them, as we experienced last year. In the EuroLeague, nothing is granted. We started poorly with problems at the free-throw line. But I have to congratulate my players because they stayed calm and slowly came back into the game. Especially our second unit changed the game. In the end, we played a good game on both ends."

GONZALEZ, ISRAEL

ALBA Berlin Assistant Coach

"Congratulations to Milan. They played a good game and passed the ball very well. It was very difficult for us. But we used the game to improve and I would say it was the best practice of the week so far. Of course, we can’t be fully happy, because we didn’t win, but a good thing is that players are coming back. Peyton [Siva] played a little bit better today than last game and Luke [Sikma] is back, too. Now we finally have one day off tomorrow to regenerate after playing six games in 12 days."

Players

LAMMERS, BEN
ALBA Berlin
"Milan is a good team, they will make their runs. We are still trying to get some guys back into rhythm. We are still coming together as a team. Johannes Thiemann really is a threat in the low post, so when my opponent is helping out on him, it leaves me open for a shot. They hit a lot of threes, but that's just a part of the game. Good teams hit tough shots."
SIKMA, LUKE
ALBA Berlin
"They have so many good and talented players. They are really experienced and well-coached. Every little mistake you make, they take advantage. Also, they just knock down the open shots. Unfortunately, they were able to grab a lot of offensive rebounds today too. They are one of the favorites to make the Final Four, so we knew it would be tough. But I'm still happy with the way our guys fought, it was the third game in five games with travel in between. Still, we are giving it our all. I'm feeling pretty good. Luckily the injury wasn't too serious. The big thing is how it feels tomorrow. But I'm confident. It's great to be out on the court again."
PUNTER, KEVIN
AX Armani Exchange Milan
"We’ve been consistent the last couple of weeks. So, just trying to take it game by game and being consistent. We’re in a good rhythm. We started the year out right. We’re just trying to continue to do the right things, go day by day and build."
HINES, KYLE
AX Armani Exchange Milan
"That’s the reason you play basketball. That’s why this game is so beautiful. When everybody is sharing the ball, and the ball is moving from side to side, Coach Messina has been preaching this to us all year. It’s great to see the results pay off for us tonight. I tell the guys that playoff teams separate themselves in January and February, so it is important for us in the second half of the season to get these wins and start putting ourselves in a good position when the season matters most."
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