2018-19Regular SeasonRound 4
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan 81
Khimki Moscow Region 80
October 25, 2018 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 MEDIOLANUM FORUM

James's clutch free throws lift Milan past Khimki

In a thriller, AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan grabbed its third win of the young EuroLeague season by edging Khimki Moscow Region 81-80 at home on Thursday. Milan improved to 3-1 in the standings, while Khimki dropped to 0-4. Mike James led the winners with 25 points and 8 assists, including the game-winning free throws with 3.3 seconds remaining. Dairis Bertans added 16 points and Arturas Gudaitis posted 13 points and 13 rebounds for Milan. Jordan Mickey led Khimki with 26 points on 12-of-15 two-point shots. Alexey Shved added 19 and 10 assists and Dee Bost had 14 points for the visitors.

Three-pointers by Bost and Charles Jenkins gave Khimki an early 6-10 lead. Jeff Brooks and James stepped up for Milan and a dunk by Kaleb Tarczewski gave his team a 14-13 edge. Bost kept pushing the visitors, but James and Gudaitis allowed Milan to get a 23-20 lead after 10 minutes. Khimki found a go-to guy in Mickey, who dunked three times and added a close basket for a 28-34 lead. Mickey dunked again and a triple by Bost made it an 8-point game, which Micov and Bertans cut to 39-45 at halftime. A wild three-point play by James and a triple by Bertans helped Milan tie the game at 49-49, right after the break. James joined the three-point shootout and Bertans hit another one from downtown, and another, which prompted Khimki to call timeout at 62-57. A red-hot Bertans kept the hosts ahead at 66-62, after 30 minutes. Six unanswered points by Mickey saw Khimki regain the lead, 66-68, with six minutes left. Mindaugas Kuzminskas and James rescued Milan, giving it a 74-70 edge with three minutes remaining. Sergey Monia buried a three-pointer and a layup by Shved put Khimki ahead, 74-75, with 1:20 left. A step-back triple by Monia gave the guests a 78-80 edge with 24 seconds to go. James was fouled while taking a three-point shot and hit all three attempts for an 81-80 lead with 3.3 seconds left. Shved and Monya both missed in the final seconds.

Pivotal performer

Gudaitis came off the bench and made things happen with a big double-double - 13 points and 13 rebounds. He drew 7 fouls and finished the game with a PIR of 22. He was the main reason why Milan outrebounded Khimki by 40-30. He grabbed 5 of his team's 13 offensive boards.

Game-changing moment

A wild three-pointer by Monia gave Khimki a 78-80 lead with 24 seconds left. Mike James took matters into his own hands, asked for the ball and drew a foul while taking a three-point shot with 3.3 seconds remaining. He kept his cool and made all 3 free throw attempts to ensure Milan another win.

Stellar stat

Milan did a great defensive job on Shved, who could not find many open looks from downtown. Shved had fired in 21-of-45 three-point shots in the opening three games (46.7%). He was limited to just 1-of-10 (10%) in this game in one of the biggest keys for Milan's victory.

Did you notice?

Despite taking a much better care of the ball, Khimki lost 81-80. Khimki had 20 assists and just 7 turnovers for a ratio of 2.85 assists-to-turnover. Milan had 13 assists and 15 turnovers for a 0.87 ratio, but won the game, which is what matters.

Next game:

Both teams return to action on Friday, November 2. At 18:00 CET, Khimki hosts Herbalife Gran Canaria, in a rematch of the 2015 7DAYS EuroCup Finals. Khimki swept the two-series and conquered its second EuroCup title. At 20:45 CET, Milan welcomes Anadolu Efes Istanbul, in a rematch of the 1996 Korac Cup finals. Efes won on point-difference and lifted the first European trophy in Turkish sports history.

Mike James - AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan - EB18
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Euroleague.net
Referees: BOLTAUZER, MATEJ; PERUGA, CARLOS; HORDOV, TOMISLAV
Attendance: 6343
By Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan23162715
Khimki Moscow Region20251718
End of Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan23396681
Khimki Moscow Region20456280
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 9:28     0/1   1   1 1 1 1     1 1 1
2 JAMES, MIKE 37:18 25 5/8 2/9 9/11   2 2 8 1 3     2 5 24
5 MICOV, VLADIMIR 27:34 6 3/5 0/2     3 3 1   4     3 2 1
7 GUDAITIS, ARTURAS 25:27 13 3/6   7/10 5 8 13     1   1 3 7 22
9 BERTANS, DAIRIS 27:24 16 1/2 4/9 2/2 1 1 2 1 1 1     2 1 12
13 FONTECCHIO, SIMONE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
15 TARCZEWSKI, KALEB 12:50 6 2/2   2/2 2 3 5     3     3 2 7
19 KUZMINSKAS, MINDAUGAS 21:31 9 2/3 1/1 2/2 2 2 4             2 14
20 CINCIARINI, ANDREA 12:05 2 1/2 0/1   1 2 3   1 1     2   1
23 BURNS, CHRISTIAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
32 BROOKS, JEFF 20:12 4 2/3     1 2 3 1 1 1     1   6
55 JERRELLS, CURTIS 6:11   0/2 0/1     1 1 1             -1
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 81 19/33 7/24 22/27 14 26 40 13 5 15 0 1 17 20 90
        57.6% 29.2% 81.5%
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
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 31:51 19 4/9 1/10 8/10 3 1 4 10 3 3     1 7 23
3 BOST, DEE 25:30 14 1/1 4/7     2 2 2 2 1     2   14
5 CROCKER, TONY 25:52 3 0/1 1/2     1 1 1   1     4   -2
6 VIALTSEV, EGOR DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 ZAITCEV, VIACHESLAV 0:06                              
9 MARKOVIC, STEFAN 14:30 4 0/2 1/5 1/2   2 2 3         2 1 1
12 MONIA, SERGEY 21:25 6 0/1 2/4   2 2 4 1         2   6
13 GILL, ANTHONY DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
15 GUBANOV, PETR 18:35 2 1/1 0/1     1 1 1 1       2 2 4
22 JENKINS, CHARLES 22:17 5 0/2 1/1 2/2   2 2 1 1       2 1 6
23 THOMAS, MALCOLM 8:13 1 0/1 0/1 1/2 1   1           3 2 -2
25 MICKEY, JORDAN 31:41 26 12/15 0/1 2/2 2 5 7 1 1 2 1   2 4 32
Team           3 3 6               6
Totals 200:00 80 18/33 10/32 14/18 11 19 30 20 8 7 1 0 20 17 88
        54.5% 31.3% 77.8%
Head coach: BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS

Head Coaches

PIANIGIANI, SIMONE
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
"I am very proud of my players because I told them before the game this was the most difficult one in the beginning of this EuroLeague season. Khimki is a great team and the ranking they have (0-4) is not right because they played at the same level against Fenerbahce, lost against Efes in the last second with a nine-meter shot by Balbay, and I said that everybody knows that Efes has a roster good enough to go to the Final Four, and today's result [win against Fenerbahce] is clear about that. My players were really tired; two-three players were sick, Nedovic out, and we were paying for the effort that we did in the last 10 days. They stayed focused on the game plan and did a great job on Shved. We came back in the third quarter and when they missed the open shot to win, we stayed on defense and won the game on defense, so I am so proud of them."
BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS
Khimki Moscow Region
“It was a really nice and interesting game for the fans, in a great atmosphere. For us, it was for the second time in a row when we had to face a tough face of basketball because we lost to Anadolu Efes with a buzzer beater by a margin of 1 point; and today was like this. I believe that we deserve much more from this EuroLeague from what we have got until now. We controlled the rhythm of the game, which is important when you play against Milan. We have better numbers in assists, steals and turnovers. We just missed some rebounds. But finally we lost. Congratulations to Milan and good luck for the next games."

Players

JAMES, MIKE
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
"I'm happy we got a win. We lost our first game at home in the EuroLeague and we needed to bounce back from that. After the big road win we got, we needed to keep our streak going. I'm just happy we won. I think we just made some more shots [in the second half]. We still had some droughts in the fourth quarter where we weren't that good, weren't making shots, but that happens. It's basketball."
GUDAITIS, ARTURAS
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
"This is the EuroLeague. You cannot expect a different way of basketball. We are happy we take this battle and we win this battle. That is the most important thing at the moment."