2019-20Regular SeasonRound 6
AX Armani Exchange Milan 83
FC Barcelona 70
November 01, 2019 CET: 20:00
Local time: 20:00 MEDIOLANUM FORUM

Milan rallies to hand Barcelona its first loss

AX Armani Exchange Milan took down the final undefeated team in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, beating FC Barcelona 83-70 at home to grab a share of first place. By handing Barcelona its first loss, Milan has now won five straight games and both teams are even at 5-1 along with CSKA Moscow. Sergio Rodriguez scored 17 points off the bench for Milan, including 9 in the final 2 minutes, 15 seconds. Vladimir Micov tallied 16 points with 8 rebounds and Luis Scola chipped in 14 points and 9 rebounds. Barcelona got 15 points from Brandon Davies while Nikola Mirotic had 13 points.

Brandon Davies picked up 3 points as Barcelona opened the game with a 0-7 advantage. Milan committed 4 turnovers and missed 5 shots before Arturas Gudaitis finally scored to make it 2-7 at the 5:30 minute mark. Milan was able to score more consistently, including a Michael Roll three-pointer, but Davies had 11 points for a 9-17 Barcelona lead. Vladimir Micov got the hosts within 15-17 with 4 points and an assist to Kaleb Tarczewski. But Alex Abrines nailed a corner three at the buzzer and Barcelona led 15-20 after 10 minutes. Malcolm Delaney's free throws opened the gap to 15-24 and, save for a basket by Micov, the Milan offense stalled for 4 minutes to start the second quarter. Nemanja Nedovic stop the bleeding from downtown and Milan got within 22-26 as Barcelona hit just one basket in more than 4 minutes. All of a sudden, the game was knotted 28-28 after back-to-back three-balls from Nedovic and Sergio Rodriguez. The Barcelona offense began to wake up and Nikola Mirotic scored his first 5 points for a 30-37 cushion at the break.

The three-pointers started to fly in the third quarter, Nedovic, Rodriguez and Scola all hitting from long range to pull the hosts within 41-42. Scola added another trey as Milan took its first lead 46-44. After a timeout, Barcelona punched right back with Cory Higgins getting a four-point play and Delaney nailing a triple to put the guests back up 46-51. Kyle Kuric chipped in 5 straight points as Barcelona surged ahead 52-58 after 30 minutes. Scola opened the fourth quarter with a free throw, a put-back and a steal that turned into a three-point play to even the score at 58-58. Adam Hanga finally got Barcelona on the board with a layup after 4 scoreless minutes. The home team continued to roll and Amedeo Della Valle nailed 2 three-pointers and free throws to send Milan ahead 66-61 with just more than 3 minutes left. Mirotic responded with a triple but Rodriguez was not impressed and nailed a trey of his own to make it 69-64. Ante Tomic missed 2 free throws for the visitors before Micov scored at 71-64. Milan finished off Barcelona with a flurry of three-pointers from Rodriguez and Jeff Brooks down the stretch.

Bench threes

Milan got some great shooting from its bench as the reserves nailed 10-of-17 three-pointers, paced by Sergio Rodriguez's 5-of-9 from long range.

Pivotal performer

Sergio Rodriguez was crucial for Milan with a game-high 17 points thanks to 5 three-pointers but he also had 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal and just 1 turnover in 29 minutes of action.

Telling numbers

Milan nailed 14-of-28 three-pointers for 50.0% while holding Barcelona to a season-low 70 points as the visitors shot just 33.3% from long distance, 43.6% on two-pointers and 68.2% on free throws.

Next games

Milan will look to make it six in a row next week at home as it welcomes KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz on November 7. Barcelona hopes to get back to its winning ways at Zalgiris Kaunas on November 8.

Sergio Rodriguez - AX Armani Exchange Milan - EB19
Friday, November 1, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: BELOSEVIC, ILIJA; MOGULKOC, EMIN; BISSANG, JOSEPH
Attendance: 12064
By Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Milan15152231
FC Barcelona20172112
End of Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Milan15305283
FC Barcelona20375870
AX Armani Exchange 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 8:34 8   2/3 2/2   1 1           1 1 8
1 MACK, SHELVIN 10:59 4 2/6       2 2 1 1 2     1   1
5 MICOV, VLADIMIR 28:29 16 5/9 1/4 3/3 1 7 8 3 1 4 1   2 6 22
7 GUDAITIS, ARTURAS 23:16 6 3/7     2 4 6   2 1 2   3 2 10
10 ROLL, MICHAEL 13:29 5 1/3 1/1   1   1           2   2
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 28:43 17 1/5 5/9     4 4 7 1 1   1 3 4 20
15 TARCZEWSKI, KALEB 13:35 2 1/2       1 1   1       3 1 1
16 NEDOVIC, NEMANJA 23:16 6 0/1 2/6     1 1 3   4 1   3 1  
20 CINCIARINI, ANDREA 0:18     0/1                   1   -2
30 WHITE, AARON 3:43                              
32 BROOKS, JEFF 15:29 5 1/1 1/1     4 4           2   7
40 SCOLA, LUIS 30:09 14 3/4 2/3 2/3 3 6 9 2 1 1     3 3 22
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 83 17/38 14/28 7/8 8 31 39 16 7 13 4 1 24 18 93
        44.7% 50% 87.5%
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
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 23:21 15 6/8 0/1 3/4 2   2 1 2 3     2 3 14
8 HANGA, ADAM 22:31 8 2/4 0/1 4/4 1 3 4 1   2   1 1 5 11
10 SMITS, ROLANDS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
18 ORIOLA, PIERRE 14:08 4 2/3       2 2     1         4
21 ABRINES, ALEX 6:40 3 0/2 1/1     1 1           2    
22 HIGGINS, CORY 27:51 6 1/7 1/2 1/1 1 1 2 2 1     1 2 2 3
23 DELANEY, MALCOLM 17:29 9 1/2 1/5 4/6       4   1     4 5 6
24 KURIC, KYLE 19:51 10 3/5 1/4 1/1 1 2 3   1       1 2 10
30 CLAVER, VICTOR 25:38 2 1/2 0/1     5 5 3 2 1 1 1 2 2 9
31 BOLMARO, LEANDRO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
33 MIROTIC, NIKOLA 25:52 13 1/4 3/6 2/4 1 4 5 1 3 2   1 1 3 13
44 TOMIC, ANTE 16:39   0/2   0/2   5 5 1   2     3 2 -1
Team           3 2 5               5
Totals 200:00 70 17/39 7/21 15/22 9 25 34 13 9 12 1 4 18 24 74
        43.6% 33.3% 68.2%
Head coach: PESIC, SVETISLAV

Head Coaches

MESSINA, ETTORE
AX Armani Exchange Milan
"We didn't change anything. It's always the same story. We play a little shy in the first half and then we play better in the second half. My players were very good throughout the whole game. We never gave them anything easy on the defensive side. And on the offensive side, we started to move the ball more, we took some more open shots. Luis Scola gave us a big lift in a crucial moment with a couple of great plays that gave confidence to the team. They had another good game, I am grateful to them because it was important today. We had a sold-out arena in Milano and it's always nice in the city when you can feel a warm relationship between the team and the crowd. And to do that in front of a fantastic team like Barcelona – fantastic coach, great players – we've very happy. Unfortunately, it's just one game and we have more than 30 games left. "
PESIC, SVETISLAV
FC Barcelona
"We have seen two different Barcelona games. In the first half, we played excellent, controlling all of their players, also played excellent defense on Rodriguez. We led 30-37, a seven-point lead. We didn't have a good start in the third quarter but due to our additional energy, once again we scored some points on offense and finished it with a six-point lead, but we didn't play well. We didn't have energy, we tried and fought. Hanga was very important because he played very good defense on Rodriguez. He got injured and needed a break. We thought if he should stay on the bench on not, because he wanted to help the team, but in the end, especially in the final 5 minutes, we had a lot of energy problems and couldn't stop Rodriguez, who played excellent, especially in the last 5 minutes. He scored 3 three-point shots in a row and for us, it was very difficult to find our rhythm and finish the game better."

Players

SCOLA, LUIS
AX Armani Exchange Milan
"It feels really good. Not only because we are at the top but also because we are playing really well. The atmosphere is unbelievable, we're playing well, we're winning games. It's fun. Everybody gets beat. It was a matter of time before they would lose. We were lucky enough to be the team."
RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO
AX Armani Exchange Milan
"It's great; it's another win. We knew that we were not playing well at the beginning, especially in the first half. And then we showed a lot of character. We didn't just show it today. We show it every day. We are working really well so we want to keep going. I knew that if we could tie it against Barcelona that they haven't lost a game in the EuroLeague, so they would be under pressure. We took advantage of that."
HANGA, ADAM
FC Barcelona
"It would be good if this game lasted for 30 minutes only, because especially in the first half, we did a very good job, especially on defense. Like I said, it is a shame to lose the game and to do it by 13 points. It looks like they won easily, but Milan had to work really hard and we were a tough opponent until the very end. The tie-break advantage is important because we have to play against them again. Right now, we saw that Zalgiris won against Fenerbahce and I expect the next game to be even harder than this. The EuroLeague doesn't stop and in this competition, everything can change in one or two weeks. We are first but have to keep pushing and never be satisfied, to carry on growing as a team and individually, too."