2020-21Regular SeasonRound 13
FC Barcelona 87
AX Armani Exchange Milan 71
December 11, 2020 CET: 21:00
Local time: 21:00 PALAU BLAUGRANA

Barcelona rallies past Milan for 10th win

In an intense battle that went down to the wire, FC Barcelona recorded its 10th win of the regular season by downing AX Armani Exchange Milan 87-71 at home in Palau Blaugrana on Friday. Barcelona improved to 10-3 in the standings and bounced back from its home loss against Olympiacos Piraeus earlier this week while Milan dropped to 7-5. Brandon Davies led the winners with 21 points on 8-for-10 two-point shooting. Nikola Mirotic posted a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds, Cory Higgins had 16 points, including back-to-back triples to break the game open late in the game, while Nick Calathes dished 14 assists for Barcelona. Malcolm Delaney led Milan with 23 points, while Shavon Shields added 12, Vladimir Micov 11 and Kyle Hines 10.


Mirotic dunked and Alex Abrines struck from downtown in an 11-0 opening run that Higgins capped with a layup. Milan did not panic, however, as Hines and Delaney quickly got their team within 11-7. Davies followed a put-back slam with a three-point play, restoring a 16-7 Barcelona lead. Hines scored twice around the rim and Shields added a three-pointer but Kyle Kuric struck twice from beyond the arc for a 23-15 Barcelona lead after 10 minutes. Jeff Brooks took over with a three-point play early in the second quarter and Kevin Punter added a fastbreak layup to get Milan within 23-20. Davies rescued Barcelona with 6 unanswered points but Delaney and Micov each struck from beyond the arc in a 0-9 run that tied it at 29-29. Shields soon downed a three-pointer that completed Milan's comeback, 33-34. Higgins and Mirotic gave Barca a new lead, 37-36, but Shields scored in penetration, Delaney added a jumper and Micov sank a buzzer-beating triple for a 39-43 Milan lead at halftime. Mirotic and Abrines downed back-to-back jumpers right after the break but Hines and Micov restored a 43-48 Milan edge. Higgins and Delaney exchanged three-pointers and Mirotic got a layup-plus-foul for a 49-51 score. Punter sank a triple but Barcelona found new go-to guys, as Adam Hanga, Rolands Smits and Pierre Oriola gave the hosts a 58-55 lead. Luigi Datome and Shields stepped up for Milan, then Smits and Kaleb Tarczewski traded dunks for a 60-61 score after 30 minutes. Shields and Tarczewski kept pacing Milan early in the fourth quarter and Delaney buried a three-pointer for a 60-67 Milan lead. Davies dunked and Mirotic followed with a backdoor layup after a Barcelona timeout. Calathes found his first points, then Mirotic and Davies scored around the basket for a 70-69 Barcelona lead. Higgins downed back-to-back triples to seal the outcome, 76-69, in the next-to-last minute. Davies dunked twice and Calathes rounded a special night with a bomb from downtown.

Pivotal performer

Calathes set a new club record with 14 assists. He already had the previous record, shared with Thomas Heurtel. He added 5 points, 6 rebounds and a steal for a PIR of 18. Above all, he stepped up when it mattered most, controlling the game in the fourth quarter.

Game-changing moment

Milan led 64-69 midway through the fourth quarter but Barcelona held the guests scoreless for 4 minutes. Meanwhile, Davies, Calathes, Mirotic and an outstanding Higgins fueled a mammoth 21-0 run which allowed the hosts to get a comfortable win.

Stellar stat

Barcelona heavily outrebounded Milan, 39-22. The guests only pulled down 12 defensive rebounds, just as many as Barcelona's offensive boards. Barcelona led 22-13 in assists and had a much better three-point shooting percentage, making 8 of 14 for 57.1% as compared to Milan's 10 of 27 for 37%.

Did you know?

Hines became the third player in EuroLeague history to score 1,000 two-point shots. He reached the milestone with a tip-in with 53.6 seconds left, his fourth basket of the game. Ante Tomic leads the all-time standings with 1,137 two-pointers made , followed by Georgios Printezis (1,112) and Hines (1,001).

Next game

Both teams return for Round 14 action early next week. Milan visits Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul on Tuesday, December in Luigi Datome's first visit to his old club since leaving last summer. He played for Fenerbahce for five season, winning the EuroLeague title in 2017 and reaching the championship game in 2016 and 2018. Barcelona hosts Khimki Moscow Region on Wednesday.

Cory Higgins - FC Barcelona - EB20
Friday, December 11, 2020
Euroleague.net
Referees: LOTTERMOSER, ROBERT; LATISEVS, OLEGS; PETEK, SASO
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
FC Barcelona23162127
AX Armani Exchange Milan15281810
End of Quarter1234
FC Barcelona23396087
AX Armani Exchange Milan15436171
FC Barcelona
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 DAVIES, BRANDON 24:33 21 8/10   5/5 3 3 6   1 4     2 8 28
8 HANGA, ADAM 16:23 5 1/1 1/2     1 1 2 1 3     2   3
9 BOLMARO, LEANDRO 7:06               2   1     3   -2
10 SMITS, ROLANDS 11:28 4 1/1 0/1 2/2   3 3             1 7
13 HEURTEL, THOMAS 3:11                         1   -1
18 ORIOLA, PIERRE 15:05 4 2/6   0/1 2 2 4   1 1 1   2 1 3
21 ABRINES, ALEX 22:41 7 2/2 1/1     1 1 1   1     3   5
22 HIGGINS, CORY 29:45 16 3/7 3/3 1/2 2 4 6 2   3   1 3 3 15
23 MARTINEZ, SERGI 0:07                              
24 KURIC, KYLE 13:57 6   2/3                     1 6
33 MIROTIC, NIKOLA 28:47 19 7/13 0/2 5/5 3 7 10 1 3 1     1 6 29
99 CALATHES, NICK 26:57 5 1/3 1/2   1 5 6 14 1 3     3 1 18
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 87 25/43 8/14 13/15 12 27 39 22 7 17 1 1 20 21 113
        58.1% 57.1% 86.7%
Head coach: JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
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 24:18 6 1/4 1/7 1/2   3 3   1 4     2 4 -2
2 LEDAY, ZACH 23:49   0/2 0/1     2 2 1     1   4 1 -2
5 MICOV, VLADIMIR 22:40 11 1/1 3/6         2   1     3 2 8
9 MORASCHINI, RICCARDO 10:06   0/2 0/1     1 1 1             -1
10 ROLL, MICHAEL 14:18   0/1 0/1     1 1 2 1 1         1
15 TARCZEWSKI, KALEB 9:24 3 1/1   1/2 1   1 1   1     2 2 3
20 CINCIARINI, ANDREA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
23 DELANEY, MALCOLM 27:36 23 1/4 4/8 9/9       4 2 1     3 4 22
31 SHIELDS, SHAVON 24:26 12 3/7 2/3 0/2 1 1 2   1       1 3 10
32 BROOKS, JEFF 14:31 4 1/3   2/3 4 2 6           2 2 7
42 HINES, KYLE 23:30 10 5/6     2 2 4 2   2   1 3 1 10
70 DATOME, LUIGI 5:22 2 0/1   2/2                 1 1 1
Team           2   2               2
Totals 200:00 71 13/32 10/27 15/20 10 12 22 13 5 10 1 1 21 20 59
        40.6% 37% 75%
Head coach: MESSINA, ETTORE

Head Coaches

JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
FC Barcelona
"When a lot of things were against us, we were down seven and used the timeout. Luckily, we got two quick buckets and we just dug down, something we actually haven't been able to do. So this is a big step, this is a big win and we need to continue digging the games out. In this EuroLeague, there are not going to be a lot of games that you are going to win by 20. This is the way to win in the EuroLeague and this might be our first one, maybe since the first game of the season. It is nice to see yourself [in first place places in the standings] but it is not important in the end. At this point, like I always say, the most important thing is to improve and improve. If you are improving, you are doing OK, especially in this pandemic year, you know? Being first or second at this point is not important. It is all about getting better."
MESSINA, ETTORE
AX Armani Exchange Milan
"Congratulations to FC Barcelona for a good win in the fourth quarter, in the last five minutes. At one point, we had probably zero energy physically, and we could not sustain the effort. They kept pounding the ball inside and that was their advantage. I saw a lot of good things by my team, so we are not happy for the loss, of course, but we keep building, and we will get ready for the next games. I could like to remember a very, very important friend in his city here in Barcelona, Mr. Toni Comas , who passed away some days ago. He was a great president of the European head coaches association, great president of the Spanish head coaches association, and a very, very good friend. I want to honor him in his city, and he was a friend also for FC Barcelona, an important person. It was a very sad day for a lot of people. We had some turnovers in the final minutes and they played more physical. We have tried to solve that problem with outside shooting, but lacked some frontcourt game, which Vlado Micov provided when he was guarded by Abrines. We managed to find some three-point shots and some plays around the rim through him. It is not an excuse, but we were without 'Chacho' [Sergio Rodriguez], an important, very brave player, which forced us to play Malcolm Delaney for many minutes, and while he was fresh, he played a very good game. It is past, and we move on."

Players

MIROTIC, NIKOLA
FC Barcelona
"I am very happy and proud of how the team reacted, especially in the end. We showed that we are very capable to turn around the game, especially when we are not playing good offensively. So I think that the biggest key tonight was defense, especially in the second half. From that defense, we started playing well on offense and left Milan at 71 points, which is great. They were coming really motivated to play against us, so it is a big for us. We knew that we had to bounce back and that we had to change our mentality, especially defensively, so that is what we did tonight. As I said, an important win."
DAVIES, BRANDON
FC Barcelona
"That's a really good team, especially offensively. We had defensive letdowns and they really made us pay, so it took a great defensive effort to get stops and get the lead back. Our defense is the key to everything. When we are getting stops, we are hard to beat."