2018-19Regular SeasonRound 29
March 28, 2019 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 MEDIOLANUM FORUM

Fenerbahce locks up first place in Milan

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul clinched first place for the regular season by downing AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan 90-104 at Mediolanum Forum on Thursday. Fenerbahce locked up first place with a 24-5 record. Milan dropped to 14-15 and ranks eighth, but may still drop lower depending on other results. Ali Muhammed led the winners with 23 points, Nikola Kalinic added 22, Erick Green and Luigi Datome each had 12 and Melih Mahmutoglou 10 for Fenerbahce. James Nunnally paced Milan with 26 points, Curtis Jerrells added 20 and Vladimir Micov had 15 for the hosts. Muhammed scored 13 points in the first quarter to give Fenerbahce a 17-22 lead after 10 minutes. He later beat the halftime buzzer with a triple that made it a double-digit lead, 42-52. Milan managed to get within 66-69 early in the fourth quarter, but Datome and an unstoppable Kalinic took over early in the fourth quarter as Fenerbahce built a 78-96 margin and never looked back.

Muhammed got Fenerbahce going with a three-pointer and a backdoor layup, but Micov and Nunnally quickly tied it at 5-5. Kaleb Tarczewski dunked and a fastbreak layup by Micov gave Milan its first lead, 9-7. Muhammed struck from downtown and added a floater in a 0-9 run highlighted by Ahmet Duverioglu's dunk. Micov buried a triple and Nunnally brought the hosts within 14-16. Three-pointers by Muhammed and Datome boosted the guests' margin to 17-22 after 10 minutes. Jerrells buried one from beyond the arc early in the second quarter, but back-to-back layups by Kalinic made it a 6-point game. Mindaugas Kuzminskas tried to change things for Milan and a wild four-point play by Nunnally tied it at 30-30. Mahmutoglou and Green downed respective three-pointers off a timeout and Marko Guduric added a driving layup. Muhammed scored again and Nicolo Melli made it a double-digit game, 32-42. Guduric and Green joined the three-point shootout, but Jerrells and Nunnally got Milan within 42-49. A buzzer-beating triple by Muhammed fixed the halftime score at 42-52. Nunnally stepped up for the hosts right after the break and brought his team a bit closer. Muhammed silenced the crowd with another three-pointer and jumpers by Melli and Datome made it 52-63. Mike James found his first points and Micov downed a jumper. They got help from Nunnally and Jerrells to give Milan hope at 61-67. Micov struck from downtown and James got the hosts even closer, 66-69. Sinan Guler and Datome boosted the visitors' lead to 68-73 after 30 minutes. Kalinic took over with consecutive baskets early in the fourth quarter and Mahmutoglou added a catch-and-shoot three-pointer for a double-digit Fenerbahce lead, 70-81. Guler scored off a steal, prompting Milan to call timeout at 70-83. Nemanja Nedovic struck from downtown and James added a tough driving layup, but Fenerbahce kept a 76-87 margin with 6 minutes left. Datome buried another three-pointer and an outstanding Kalinic allowed Fenerbahce to seal the outcome at 78-96 midway through the fourth quarter as the visitors cruised to a well-deserved win.

Pivotal performer

Nikola Kalinic made the difference in the fourth quarter with a career-high 22 points. He made 7 of 9 two-point shots and 8 of 9 free throws. He added 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 7 fouls drawn for a performance index rating of 26, which is also a new career-high.

Game-changing moment

The start of the fourth quarter allowed Fenerbahce to seal the outcome. Milan had trimmed its deficit to 68-73, but back-to-back baskets by Nikola Kalinic, a three-pointer by Melih Mahmutoglou and a layup off a midcourt steal by Sinan Guler restored a 70-83 margin that Milan could not overcome.

Stellar stat

Fenerbahce took much better care of the ball, finishing the game with 16 assists and just 8 turnovers. On the other hand, Milan had 11 assists and 16 turnovers, 12 of them in the first half. Those extra 8 possessions were critical in the final outcome.

Did you notice?

Fenerbahce scored 104 points, the second-best mark since head coach Zeljko Obradovic joined the team, despite playing without its best two scorers, Jan Vesely (13 ppg.) and Kostas Sloukas (11.6 ppg.). Fenerbahce previously scored 106 points against Darussafaka on January 22, 2016.

Next game:

Both teams reach the end of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season next week. Milan visits Anadolu Efes Istanbul on Thursday. Fenerbahce hosts Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv on Friday.

Ali Muhammed - Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul - EB18
Thursday, March 28, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: RYZHYK, BORYS; BOLTAUZER, MATEJ; CORTES, CARLOS
Attendance: 11851
By Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan17252622
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul22302131
End of Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan17426890
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul225273104
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
2 JAMES, MIKE 29:39 8 1/6 0/2 6/8   3 3 4 2 5   1 4 5 3
5 MICOV, VLADIMIR 29:41 15 2/5 3/4 2/2   3 3 3 1 3   1 3 1 12
13 FONTECCHIO, SIMONE 0:38                         1   -1
15 TARCZEWSKI, KALEB 17:38 7 3/4   1/1 1 1 2   1 2 2 1 4 3 7
16 NEDOVIC, NEMANJA 23:01 3 0/1 1/1     1 1 1   1     2   1
19 KUZMINSKAS, MINDAUGAS 8:49 4 1/1   2/2 1 1 2     1       1 6
20 CINCIARINI, ANDREA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 NUNNALLY, JAMES 30:36 26 4/7 2/3 12/13 2 3 5           1 8 33
23 BURNS, CHRISTIAN 2:24   0/1                     2   -3
32 BROOKS, JEFF 29:13 7 3/3 0/1 1/2 2 3 5     2     2 1 7
55 JERRELLS, CURTIS 28:04 20 2/2 4/7 4/5   1 1 3 2 2     3 4 21
92 OMIC, ALEN 0:17                              
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 90 16/30 10/18 28/33 7 18 25 11 6 16 2 3 22 23 89
        53.3% 55.6% 84.8%
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
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 GREEN, ERICK 33:25 12 2/4 2/2 2/2   2 2 2 1       3 1 13
3 TIRPANCI, ERGI DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
4 MELLI, NICOLO 23:15 6 1/5 0/1 4/4 2 2 4 2 1 3 2   2 4 9
5 HERSEK, BARIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
10 MAHMUTOGLU, MELIH 25:03 10 1/2 2/5 2/2   1 1           1 2 8
12 KALINIC, NIKOLA 34:21 22 7/9 0/1 8/9 2 2 4 2   1   1 3 7 26
13 BIBEROVIC, TARIK DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
23 GUDURIC, MARKO 12:24 9 1/1 2/2 1/2       1 1       4 2 8
32 GULER, SINAN 12:44 6 3/3           3 2       2   9
35 MUHAMMED, ALI 23:55 23 3/5 5/11 2/2 2 2 4 5 1     1 2 1 23
44 DUVERIOGLU, AHMET 12:11 4 2/2     1 1 2 1   2     3   2
70 DATOME, LUIGI 22:42 12 1/4 2/5 4/4   6 6     2 1   4 2 9
Team           3 1 4     1         3
Totals 200:00 104 21/35 13/27 23/25 10 17 27 16 6 9 3 2 24 19 110
        60% 48.1% 92%
Head coach: OBRADOVIC, ZELJKO

Head Coaches

PIANIGIANI, SIMONE
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
"I think that it is very clear; we arrived, like in our last game, without the right energy to beat a top team like Fenerbahce. At the end of this season in the EuroLeague, we put everything that we have, but we arrived to the final two games not in shape, not mentally ready to stay consistent for 40 minutes in this kind of game. We spent a lot of energy all season to be here and I think that my players really put everything on all these games. I am only sad tonight because it was our last game at home and with so many people [watching in the stands], we didn't play at the top like many times before. We have the opportunity to play for the playoffs until the last game. This is something which, for us, I have to give to my players, this kind of congratulations. Not for tonight, not for the last 10 minutes of the previous game, but I think it is clear that they gave us the chance to be here, pushing over the problems, the injuries and everything, to be in this moment. Now we have to accept a moment like this."
OBRADOVIC, ZELJKO
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
"We came to Milan knowing that we were without some players who are very important for our game, not just Lauvergne, Vesely and Sloukas, but it was also Marko Guduric's first practice after he had an injury in a Turkish championship game. So we tried to prepare a different plan for the game, knowing all the quality that Milan has, individual quality, practically all the players in the team can score very easily. And also today we scored some points very, very easily. We tried to start with our defense - in some moments we really played very good defense, but in some moments they scored some easy baskets. The thing is that we played very smart offensively. We used our quality and I really want to congratulate my players for an excellent game and for what they have done in the EuroLeague until now. We are first for sure and now, we have to prepare ourselves for the playoffs which are, of course, more important than anything."