2018-19Regular SeasonRound 24
Khimki Moscow Region 88
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan 90
February 28, 2019 CET: 18:00
Local time: 20:00 ARENA MYTISHCHI

Milan rallies on road to stop Shved, Khimki

AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan improved its playoff chances by rallying from 14 points behind in the second half to edge Khimki Moscow Region 88-90 on the road on Thursday despite a strong comeback from injured by Alexey Shved for the hosts. Milan improved to 13-11 to retain sixth place while Khimki dropped to 9-15 and is still 13th overall. Mike James paced the winners, who completed a sweep of Khimki this season, with 16 points. Vladimir Micov and Kaleb Tarczewski scored 15 apiece, James Nunnally 13 and Curtis Jerrells 11 for Milan. Shved looked none the worse for his three-month layoff, leading Khimki with 23 points and 11 assists. Malcolm Thomas added 17 points while Charles Jenkins and Tony Crocker each scored 15 for the hosts, who led 65-51 late in the third quarter. That's when Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Nemanja Nedovic sparked a 1-16 run to turn the game around. Micov and James took over in crunch time to lead Milan to a critical road win.

Crocker got Khimki going with a three-pointer and Jenkins a driving layup but Tarczewski followed a dunk-and-free throw with an alley-oop slam for a 5-5 tie. Shved and Jenkins both struck from downtown as Khimki led 11-7. James hit a driving basket and Nunnally a triple for Milan, but Andrey Zubkov and Thomas each dunked to keep Khimki ahead 15-12. Jeff Brooks and Jenkins exchanged baskets before a three-pointer by Thomas gave the hosts a 20-14 lead. A dunk by Tarczewski and a floater by Nedovic kept Milan within 20-18, but Sergey Monia's triple let Khimki hold a 25-20 advantage after 10 minutes. Nunnally and Micov scored early in the second quarter, but Shved and Jenkins kept Khimki ahead 31-24 lead. Jordan Mickey followed an alley-oop dunk with a jump hook but Jerrells and Micov each struck from beyond the arc to bring Milan as close as 39-36. However, Monia joined the three-point shootout and Thomas soon dunked to force a Milan timeout at 44-36. Micov downed another triple, Thomas dunked again and Crocker made it a double-digit game, 50-39. James cut the difference to 54-45 at halftime. Micov and Shved traded jumpers right after the break and a layup by Jenkins restored a 58-47 Khimki margin. Tarczewski took over with his fifth dunk but Shved struck from beyond the arc and an outstanding Crocker made Milan call timeout at 65-51. Nunnally followed a jumper with a layup in a 0-6 run that Tarczewski capped with a slam. Shved and Crocker stepped up again for Khimki, giving the hosts a 73-65 margin after 30 minutes. A triple by Nedovic and a layup by Jerrells made it a three-point game, 73-70, early in the fourth quarter. Scores by Nedovic and Nunnally quickly tied the game, 74-74. Kuzminskas followed a three-pointer with a layup that not only completed the guests' comeback, but gave them a 74-79 lead after a 1-16 run. Thomas scored down low in response for Khimki, but Jerrells and Kuzminskas soon made it 76-83 with just over 4 minutes left. After a Khimki timout, Thomas hit consecutive layups and Shved a triple to suddenly tie it again at 83-83. Shved split free throws as Khimki went ahead, but Tarczewski scored inside to put Milan back in front, 84-85, with 1:23 to go. Jenkins and Micov traded three-pointers before free throws by James gave Milan a 87-90 lead with 16.2 seconds remaining. Milan fouled Shved, who missed his second attempt on purpose but Tarczewski grabbed the rebound, allowing Milan to seal the win.

Pivotal performer

Tarczewski had a rock-solid performance, dunking the ball six times on his way to 15 points while making 7 of 8 two-point shots. His only layup was a critical one, too, giving Milan an 84-85 edge with 1:23 left. He added 6 rebounds, 2 steals and a block for a PIR of 25.

Game-changing moment

A three-pointer by Jenkins gave Khimki an 87-85 lead going into the final minute, but Micov quickly answered from downtown on an assist by Nedovic. James added free throws and a late tactical foul by Nedovic, preventing Shved to try a three-point shot, allowed Milan to walk away with the crucial win.

Stellar stat

Milan dominated in the paint, hitting 31-of-42 two-point shots. Its 73.8% inside the arc is a new club record for the Italian powerhouse. Its previous two-point shooting percentage record was 71.4% against Aris on November 22, 2007.

Did you notice?

Shved returned at his best level, setting a new season-high in assists (11) to go with 23 points for a PIR of 29. Shved has now posted a PIR of 21 or better in all of his nine EuroLeague games this season and has scored more than 20 points for the fifth consecutive game, too.

Next game:

Next week, in Round 25, Milan visits CSKA Moscow on Friday. Later that night, Khimki travels to Fernando Buesa Arena, home of the 2019 Final Four, to face KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Mike James - AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan - EB18
Thursday, February 28, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: HIERREZUELO, DANIEL; HORDOV, TOMISLAV ; PETEK, SASO
Attendance: 5234
By Quarter1234
Khimki Moscow Region25291915
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan20252025
End of Quarter1234
Khimki Moscow Region25547388
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan20456590
Khimki Moscow Region
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 SHVED, ALEXEY 33:20 23 4/5 3/11 6/9   3 3 11 1 5 1   2 9 29
5 CROCKER, TONY 30:25 15 4/6 1/3 4/4 2 2 4 1 1 1     2 3 17
6 VIALTSEV, EGOR DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 ZAITCEV, VIACHESLAV DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 MARKOVIC, STEFAN 25:38 2 1/2 0/3     1 1 2   1     2   -2
12 MONIA, SERGEY 26:43 8 1/3 2/6   1 3 4 3 2 2 1   3 2 9
15 GUBANOV, PETR 6:36                         1 1  
20 ZUBKOV, ANDREY 16:03 2 1/1           1         3    
22 JENKINS, CHARLES 30:37 15 3/3 3/4 0/1 1 1 2   1       1   15
23 THOMAS, MALCOLM 24:13 17 7/9 1/2 0/1 2 6 8 3   2   2 4 4 20
25 MICKEY, JORDAN 6:25 6 3/5     1 1 2 1             7
35 KADOSHNIKOV, DMITRII DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           3 1 4               4
Totals 200:00 88 24/34 10/29 10/15 10 18 28 22 5 11 2 2 18 19 99
        70.6% 34.5% 66.7%
Head coach: KURTINAITIS, RIMAS
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 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 28:16 16 5/7 0/4 6/8   2 2 2 1 1     1 7 18
5 MICOV, VLADIMIR 25:47 15 3/5 3/5     2 2   1 2     1   11
15 TARCZEWSKI, KALEB 23:59 15 7/8   1/1 1 5 6   2   1   3 5 25
16 NEDOVIC, NEMANJA 20:47 7 2/3 1/4     2 2 4 2 3   1 4 1 4
19 KUZMINSKAS, MINDAUGAS 18:59 9 3/4 1/2   3 2 5     2     3 2 9
20 CINCIARINI, ANDREA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 NUNNALLY, JAMES 27:35 13 5/8 1/2   1 4 5 7 1 2   1 4   15
23 BURNS, CHRISTIAN 0:16                              
32 BROOKS, JEFF 31:38 4 2/3 0/2   3 2 5 1 1   1   5 1 5
55 JERRELLS, CURTIS 17:49 11 4/4 1/5     2 2 2 1         1 13
92 OMIC, ALEN 4:54                              
Team           3 1 4     1         3
Totals 200:00 90 31/42 7/24 7/9 11 22 33 16 9 11 2 2 21 17 103
        73.8% 29.2% 77.8%
Head coach: PIANIGIANI, SIMONE

Head Coaches

KURTINAITIS, RIMAS
Khimki Moscow Region
"First, I would like to congratulate Olimpia Milan on a good victory. They gave us a tough game. We had bad luck in the end because we made some mistakes on defense, especially on their most important player, Micov. Our decisions on offense were not so good. For us, it's tough to play only with Thomas because Mickey played only six minutes and got injured. We tried Petr Gubanov and he did what he could. The doctors will provide us with the relevant info later. Probably Mickey's injury was not the worst thing tonight because at the end we also lost Crocker with the same knee injury. This is a very serious problem for our team. I don't know how much time will it take for them to recover. As for Shved, he played well, as we expected. He even played better than I had expected. He is our clear leader, and all the team played differently with him. It's a pity that in the very end, we didn't manage to make the most crucial shot of the game."
PIANIGIANI, SIMONE
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan

"It is a great win because my players stayed mentally in the game. We attacked their switching defense in a smart way, moving the ball, and we had five players in double digits. The problem was on defense because in the beginning it was bad; they were scoring and getting assists. We followed the game plan and adjusted it a little bit, also playing small ball in the second half, switching defenses. My players stayed focused and everybody that came on court made the right contribution. It is really a team win tonight. This is very important for what we are building, for the end of the season, so I am very happy about it. I don't want to talk about details but for me, it is important how my players stayed together. We have to stay more calm, less nervous and more focused. We have quality and can be better and better going on. We have recovered players like Nemanja Nedovic and have a new lineup. We have to discover a lot of options, but with this attitude, if we keep working like this, we can compete everywhere."

"I think it was a very good game for us because in this situation we are like a new team. We have to put inside Nedovic and Nunnally together. Nunnally has been with us for a couple of weeks and Nedovic was recovering, and we are also without Gudaitis, which made us change our lineup. We played a solid game, attacking the switching defense the right way. We always built good, open shots, with high two-point percentage. The problem was on defense in the first half, but also because we are probably the only team that played two games against Shved – I don't know! In the second half, we also played small ball and played better defense. I think we deserved this win because in the second half, we played excellent defense, especially for a road game."

Players

MARKOVIC, STEFAN
Khimki Moscow Region
"I think we didn't respond well [in the fourth quarter]. We had some misses and turnovers, and on the defensive end, we were like confused. We cannot allow that to happen. This is EuroLeague; you need to play 40 minutes."
TARCZEWSKI, KALEB
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
"We really locked in on defense in the second half of the game, trying to stop Shved, who is an unbelievable offensive player. We really did a good job on coming out aggressive and we really needed that win to keep our playoffs hopes alive. Everyone was scrambling [early in the fourth quarter]. We played a little bit of small ball and had kind of better matchups against them and it ended up working out really well. We did a good job on rebounding and it was a great team win."
JAMES, MIKE
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
"We just stuck together. We didn't really play good for like the first two quarters and a half, but that happens on the road, especially in a tough place to play like this. We just stuck together, kept playing defense and kept digging in…Sometimes, in the first half, we just got confused a little but on defense and lost our matchups but I think in the second half, we played a lot better."