2021-22Regular SeasonRound 3
October 12, 2021 CET: 20:30
Local time: 20:30 MEDIOLANUM FORUM

Milan undefeated after dumping Maccabi

AX Armani Exchange Milan remained undefeated in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague after defeating Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 83-72 at Mediolanum Forum on Tuesday. Milan improved to 3-0 in the standings while Maccabi dropped to 1-2. Devon Hall paced the winners with 17 points, Dinos Mitoglou added 16 and Malcolm Delaney 10 for Milan. Derrick Williams led Maccabi with 19 points, James Nunnally added 16, Jalen Reynolds 13 and Mathias Lessort 10. Delaney and Nicolo Melli fueled an early 17-2 run that helped Milan to a double-digit margin, 26-15, after 10 minutes. Mitoglou struck three times from downtown in the second quarter and got plenty of help from everyone to break the game open, 52-30, at halftime. Maccabi kept trying after the break, but Milan kept a safe margin throughout the second half, cruising to a well-deserved win.

Nunnally got Maccabi going with a three-pointer, fed Lessort for a wild alley-oop slam and added a fade-away jumper for a 5-7 lead. Shavon Shields stepped up with a driving layup and Kaleb Tarczewski added an alley-oop dunk that put Milan ahead, 9-7. Delaney capped an 8-0 run with a triple. Reynolds scored down low to make it 13-9. Melli had 6 points, including a couple of close baskets, in a 9-0 run that made it a double-digit game, 22-9. Scottie Wilbekin and Nunnally tried to change things for the guests, but Sergio Rodriguez buried a corner triple for a 26-15 Milan lead after 10 minutes.

Reynolds and Kyle Hines traded layups early in the second quarter. Shields scored again and Mitoglou buried a three-pointer that broke the game open, 35-19. Lessort tried to ignite Maccabi's comeback with a layup, but Hines and Mitoglou pushed the hosts' margin to 40-21. Lessort followed a dunk with a power layup and Williams found his first points, but a red-hot Mitoglou, Delaney and Melli gave Milan a new game-high lead, 49-27. Hall took over with a three-point play that fixed the halftime score at 52-30.

Nunnally kept pushing Maccabi after the break but he didn't find much help around. Meanwhile, Hall banked in a floater and struck from downtown for a 57-35 Milan margin. Williams struck from downtown and Wilbekin followed Reynolds's layup-plus-foul with a triple that caused the hosts to stop the game at 60-44. Wilbekin insisted from beyond the arc but so did Luigi Datome for a 63-47 score. Reynolds scored down low to make it 63-49 after 30 minutes.

Mitoglou scored twice around the basket - his first two-pointers of the night - early in the fourth quarter to keep Milan out of trouble, 67-49. Shields and Hall joined the three-point shootout, but Williams struck three times from beyond the arc and got help from Reynolds to give Maccabi hope at 75-61 with over 6 minutes to go. Hines stepped up with a layup, Milan improved its three-point defense and Hall sealed the outcome from the foul line.

Balance, accuracy lead Milan to win

AX Armani Exchange Milan distributed its offense close to perfection in the first half of its game against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv. Seven players scored 4 points or more, led by Malcolm Delaney, who had 10. Before the break, Milan dished 12 assists and committed just 4 turnovers, hit 11 of 16 two-point shots (68.8%) and 6 of 14 shots from beyond the arc (42.9%). It also outrebounded Maccabi 20-13, pulling down 16 defensive boards. That allowed Milan to dominate the game's rhythm and get a 22-point halftime lead, 52-30. The PIR difference - Milan 64, Maccabi 22 - said everything about Milan's first-half dominance.

Milan uses mammoth run to take off

James Nunnally buried a fallaway jumper to give Maccab Playtika Tel Avivi a 5-7 lead early in its road game against AX Armani Exchange Milan. Shavon Shields scored in penetration and Kaleb Tarczewski added an alley-oop slam and after that, everything clicked for Milan. Maccabi started to miss shots and Delaney found answers for Milan with a three-pointer. Soon, the hosts found a new go-to guy in Nicolo Melli, who scored a beautiful basket in the low post and soon added a backdoor layup. When the dust settled, Milan led 22-9, had been on a 17-2 run and was well on its way to get another home victory.

Mitoglou's three-point exhibition

Dinos Mitoglou of AX Armani Exchange Milan has quickly transitioned to the power forward spot, seeing a lot of playing time alongside Kyle Hines. Mitoglou was Milan's X-factor in his team's home win against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, finishing the game with 16 points in as many minutes. He hit a career-high 4 three-point shots - his previous record was 3 three-pointers made with Panathinaikos OPAP Athens against Khimki Moscow Region on October 2, 2020. He buried 3 shots from beyond the arc in the second quarter alone, allowing Milan to break the game open, and another off a pump fake in the third quarter.

Konstantinos Mitoglou - AX Armani Exchange Milan - EB21
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
Euroleague.net
Referees: PUKL,SASA; PEREZ, EMILIO; HORDOV, TOMISLAV
Attendance: 3012
By Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Milan26261120
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv15151923
End of Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Milan26526383
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv15304972
AX Armani Exchange Milan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
9 MELLI, NICOLO 24:54 8 3/7   2/2   4 4 2 1 1 1   2 4 13
10 GRANT, JERIAN 9:00 2 1/1                         2
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 19:07 9 2/2 1/6 2/2   2 2 6   1     1 2 12
15 TARCZEWSKI, KALEB 11:47 2 1/1       4 4 1         2 2 7
17 RICCI, GIAMPAOLO 5:12 1     1/2   1 1           2 1  
21 MORASCHINI, RICCARDO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
22 HALL, DEVON 31:10 17 2/4 3/8 4/5 1   1 1   2 1   1 4 13
23 DELANEY, MALCOLM 24:34 10 1/2 1/3 5/7   4 4 4   1     3 5 14
24 MITOGLOU, KONSTANTINOS 18:35 16 2/3 4/6   2 4 6 1 1   2 1 2   20
31 SHIELDS, SHAVON 28:12 9 3/5 1/4     3 3 4 1 3     1 2 10
42 HINES, KYLE 19:32 6 2/3   2/5 2 3 5     2     2 3 6
70 DATOME, LUIGI 7:57 3 0/1 1/3     1 1           2   -1
Team           4   4     2         2
Totals 200:00 83 17/29 11/30 16/23 9 26 35 19 3 12 4 1 18 23 98
        58.6% 36.7% 69.6%
Head coach: MESSINA, ETTORE
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
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 WILBEKIN, SCOTTIE 25:37 8 0/4 2/7 2/2   1 1 4 1 1     4 4 4
2 EVANS, KEENAN 23:06 5 1/4 1/1   1 1 2 3 1     1 4 3 6
4 CALOIARO, ANGELO 24:34     0/2     4 4 2   1     1   2
6 WILLIAMS, DERRICK 28:11 19 3/5 4/5 1/1   1 1   1 1   1 1 2 17
7 TAYLOR, KAMERON 15:07   0/2 0/3   1 1 2 2     1 2 1   -3
8 REYNOLDS, JALEN 24:14 13 6/9   1/1 1 4 5 1   1     4 2 13
9 SORKIN, ROMAN 2:28 1     1/2                 1 1  
12 DIBARTOLOMEO, JOHN 9:06     0/1         2   1     1   -1
15 COHEN, JAKE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 NUNNALLY, JAMES 33:37 16 4/5 1/6 5/5   7 7 5 1 3     3 3 20
26 LESSORT, MATHIAS 13:18 10 5/6   0/3   3 3 1 1 2     4 3 8
99 ZIV, IFTAH 0:42                              
Team           3 1 4     2         2
Totals 200:00 72 19/35 8/25 10/14 6 23 29 20 5 12 1 4 24 18 68
        54.3% 32% 71.4%
Head coach: SFAIROPOULOS, IOANNIS

Head Coaches

MESSINA, ETTORE
AX Armani Exchange Milan
"I think we had to expect what happened. They became much more physical, became very rough, very difficult to officiate on both sides. There were a lot of difficulties in moving the ball and we sometimes overdribbled but we made some important plays and our defense, overall, was very good. I think Malcolm [Delaney] did a great job on Wilbekin, with the help of his teammates. He was, of course, public enemy number one after the performance that he had. I think we could have played a little bit better offensively in the fourth quarter, but maybe we got a little bit tired. It is a new experience, we were up for the first time this year 20 points at the end of the first half. It is a good, important win for us and we move on. Getting Efes with 0-3 is a problem. If you get Efes with three losses, they will come here and play a great game. They are the reigning champions. We know how good they are. We will see."
SFAIROPOULOS, IOANNIS
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"I want to congratulate Milan and Coach Messina for the win. I think that, in the first half, we played very bad on both ends of the court, defense and offense. We didn't execute on offense. The truth is that we missed some open shots but in general, we had moments that offensively we were not good. Of course, defensively, we received easy baskets. They scored 52 points with over 68% [shooting] from two in the first half. It was very hard to stay in the game. At halftime, we discussed that we needed to fight better and harder, and this is what happened. I like how we reacted but only this, because we need to start the game as we fought in the second half. It is important that we reacted in the middle of the game because it is not easy. When you collapse like in the first half, which was a complete disaster. We played much better in the second half. This is very positive for the same game, but also positive for the continuation. We need to continue as we finished the game."

Players

HALL, DEVON
AX Armani Exchange Milan
"I think they picked up their intensity in the second half. We were really good defensively in the first half, obviously, with a big lead at halftime. But I think it is most important that we finished the game out well, with a win. So it is good, something to build on, and learn from our mistakes here. I think we are learning each other, trying to figure out where each other get their spots on the floor. I think we are starting to figure it out. I am enjoying playing with these guys on both ends of the floor. We are just trying to get better each and every day and I think we are doing a really good job about it. It will be a new challenge [in Round 4 game against Efes]. We have a couple of days to prepare for it, so we are looking forward to it, take one day at a time and prepare for it."
MITOGLOU, KONSTANTINOS
AX Armani Exchange Milan
"We started the game very strong. We were very ready mentally and physically, very prepared. We maintained a very great first half. We need to continue like this. In the second half, we relaxed a little bit, but we maintained the difference and are happy about it. We won; we have a great good rhythm and need to maintain this. I am very happy for it."
WILLIAMS, DERRICK
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"We had a tough first half, but I think we stepped up in the second half. The ball went in and we fought hard. We have a long way to go but the last part of the game gives me confidence that we will get better and better starting the game on Thursday."
NUNNALLY, JAMES
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
"For sure this is not how we wanted to start the game. We couldn't find our rhythm in the first half. But I think that in the second half we showed that we can be better. We played more aggressively and when shots fall in, we can put pressure on our opponent and come back to the game. we will improve each and every day."