2018-19Regular SeasonRound 5
November 02, 2018 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 MEDIOLANUM FORUM

James's three lifts Milan past Efes

AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan grabbed its third consecutive win in dramatic fashion by topping Anadolu Efes Istanbul 81-80 at home. Mike James led the winners with 15 points, hitting the game-winning three-pointer with a second left. Vladimir Micov added 14 while Arturas Gudaitis had 13 and 11 rebounds for Milan. Adrien Moerman led Efes with 23 points on 10-of-12 two-pointers. Vasilije Micic added 15 while Tibor Pleiss had 10 for the guests. Milan improved to 4-1 in the standings while Efes dropped to 3-2.

Three-pointers by Andrea Cinciarini and Jeff Brooks gave Milan an early 12-9 lead. James Anderson and Bryant Dunston stepped up for Efes but Cinciarini and Micov boosted the hosts' lead to 20-15. A dunk by Gudaitis and a layup by James made it a seven-point game, 24-17, after 10 minutes. Micov and Gudaitis kept pacing Milan and a jumper by Dairis Bertans gave his team a 31-19 margin. It didn't last long, however, as Shane Larkin and Dunston fueled a 0-12 run which Micic capped with a triple to bring Efes back to life, 36-33. Kaleb Tarczewski rescued Milan and a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Curtis Jerrells fixed the halftime score at 43-35. Bertans and James took over after the break for a double-digit Milan lead, 49-39. Micic cut his team's deficit to half, 52-47, but three-pointers by Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Micov and James allowed Milan to get a 68-54 margin after 30 minutes. Anderson and Moerman fueled an 0-8 run that gave Efes hope, 68-62, early in the fourth quarter. A three-pointer by Rodrigue Beaubois and a tip-in by Dunston soon brought the guests even closer, 76-74, with four minutes left. Pleiss made 4-of-4 free throws and a layup by James tied it at 78-78. Beaubois scored in penetration, James missed at the other end but Micic went 0-of-2 from the foul line with 16.9 seconds remaining. Milan had a final chance and James buried the game-winning shot at the buzzer.

Pivotal performer

Gudaitis came off the bench to get a double-double, 13 points and 11 rebounds. He hit 4-of-6 two-point shots, 5-of-5 free throws and added 3 steals, a block and 6 fouls drawn for a performance index rating of 28.

Game-changing moment

With 16.9 seconds left and Efes up 78-80, Micic missed two critical free throw attempts. James, who had hit 3-of-19 shots until that moment, proved to be Milan's leader by hitting the game-winning three with a second left despite nearly losing the ball to an attempted steal. Then Gudaitis deflected Micic's inbound pass to run the game clock down.

Stellar stat

Milan's hustle was reflected in the stats – the hosts had 10 steals, 3 blocks and 17 offensive rebounds. That was the Italian team’s best mark in offensive boards since facing Panathinaikos on December 21, 2016.

Did you notice?

Milan won four of its opening five EuroLeague games for the first time this century. The last time it started the top competition with a 4-1 record was in the 1996-97 season, beating Ulker, Limoges, CSKA and Panionios, and losing against Maccabi.

Next game:

Both teams return to Turkish Airlines EuroLeague action on Thursday, November 8. At 20:45 CET, Milan hosts still-undefeated CSKA Moscow in a rematch of the 1966 European Cup semifinal - Milan beat CSKA 57-68 behind 20 points by Bill Bradley and went on to win its first continental crown. An hour later, at 21:45 CET, Efes visits Herbalife Gran Canaria.

Mike James celebrates - AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan - EB18
Friday, November 2, 2018
Euroleague.net
Referees: CHRISTODOULOU, CHRISTOS; RYZHYK, BORYS; TRAWICKI, TOMASZ
Attendance: 9831
By Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan24192513
Anadolu Efes Istanbul17181926
End of Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan24436881
Anadolu Efes Istanbul17355480
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
00 DELLA VALLE, AMEDEO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2 JAMES, MIKE 36:01 15 2/10 2/10 5/5   5 5 6   4   1 1 3 7
5 MICOV, VLADIMIR 33:29 14 3/7 1/4 5/8   2 2 5 1 1     2 6 15
7 GUDAITIS, ARTURAS 25:18 13 4/6   5/5 6 5 11   3 1 1   3 6 28
9 BERTANS, DAIRIS 24:48 8 1/3 2/8     1 1 1 1 1     2    
13 FONTECCHIO, SIMONE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
15 TARCZEWSKI, KALEB 14:42 8 3/3   2/4 2 2 4       1   3 3 11
19 KUZMINSKAS, MINDAUGAS 21:26 7 1/3 1/4 2/2 3 3 6 1 3 1 1   2 1 11
20 CINCIARINI, ANDREA 6:40 5 1/1 1/1   1   1           1   5
23 BURNS, CHRISTIAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
32 BROOKS, JEFF 18:35 3 0/2 1/2   1 4 5 1 2 1     2   5
55 JERRELLS, CURTIS 19:01 8 1/2 2/5     2 2 2   1     2   5
Team           4   4               4
Totals 200:00 81 16/37 10/34 19/24 17 24 41 16 10 10 3 1 18 19 91
        43.2% 29.4% 79.2%
Head coach: PIANIGIANI, SIMONE
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
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 LARKIN, SHANE 27:03 9 4/10 0/2 1/1   3 3 3   3   2   1 3
1 BEAUBOIS, RODRIGUE 21:08 9 3/7 1/4     2 2 1   2     2   1
4 BALBAY, DOGUS 3:24   0/1       1 1     1         -1
6 BIRSEN, METECAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 MOTUM, BROCK 9:08   0/1 0/1     1 1         1 1   -3
18 MOERMAN, ADRIEN 30:52 23 10/12 0/2 3/4 1 4 5 2 1 1     3 4 26
19 TUNCER, BUGRAHAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 PLEISS, TIBOR 16:49 10 3/5 0/1 4/4 4 3 7   2 1     2 2 15
22 MICIC, VASILIJE 30:02 15 3/8 3/4 0/2 1 6 7 5 2 2     2 4 21
23 ANDERSON, JAMES 23:05 6 0/1 2/2     4 4           4 1 6
42 DUNSTON, BRYANT 23:11 8 4/5   0/1 1 4 5     1 1   2 6 15
44 SIMON, KRUNOSLAV 15:18     0/1     2 2     2     3   -4
Team           5   5               5
Totals 200:00 80 27/50 6/17 8/12 12 30 42 11 5 13 1 3 19 18 84
        54% 35.3% 66.7%
Head coach: ATAMAN, ERGIN

Head Coaches

PIANIGIANI, SIMONE
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan

"I am very happy for the players. It is the second win in a row without Nedovic and at this level, this is very important – and also because we brought back Jerrells but he skipped all the pre-season, so he is in less than 50% shape. We stayed calm but they are a smart team. They know to use fouls so for me, it is a big victory because my players had a big desire to win this game, so congratulations to them. It is not easy to play a game like this, to keep a lead most of the game."

"We played against a great team and I think that we deserved this win because we led, more or less, all the game. We lost 2-3 times our rhythm and with Efes, it is very difficult because they have unbelievable potential on offense. We kept building some open shots that we missed. I told my players they had to insist, because we know that, without Nedovic, we have to ask our guards for a big effort. In the end, the final shot went inside (the basket) and we won the game but I think my players were very solid, also on defense, for a big part of this game against a really great offensive team. It is good for us that we stayed, resisted and won these two games at home in the last two weeks, because we are not perfect physically. Mentally, my players gave answers in the right way."

ATAMAN, ERGIN
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
"We didn't start well. We made a lot of turnovers and gave Milan chances to find easy fast break points. Also, we didn't protect our paint against their pick and roll. The beginning of the second half was similar. Milan found easy baskets from their pick and roll offense, especially with Bertans and Kuzminskas with three-point shots. The last quarter changed everything – we started to play our basketball, we moved the ball well and started to get defensive stops, especially against Mike James. We didn't let him find easy ways to score. We (almost) won the game but on the other side, this is basketball – we missed free throws and then Micic tried to steal the ball, but we had bad luck because he lost control and Mike James hit a miracle shot. But this is basketball – we won like this in Moscow (against Khimki) and now, we lost tonight in the same way."

Players

GUDAITIS, ARTURAS
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
"I am so happy that we won this game, because there were so many ups and downs. We missed so many shots which we must score, but I am just happy for the win."
JAMES, MIKE
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
"I played my worst game of the year but I am glad that we won - and I am happy I made the shot. I knew I was going to shoot it no matter what. I wasn't really worried about nothing else, and I was kind of nervous when I lost the ball, but I was able to get it back and get a good shot up."
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