2020-21Regular SeasonRound 30
AX Armani Exchange Milan 56
FC Barcelona 72
March 19, 2021 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 MEDIOLANUM FORUM

Barcelona dominates in Milan

FC Barcelona took a big step towards home-court advantage in the playoffs by downing AX Armani Exchange Milan 56-72 at Mediolanum Forum on Friday. Barcelona improved to 22-8 and has a three-game gap over fifth-ranked team FC Bayern Munich (19-11) with four games left. Milan dropped to 19-11 and is now placed fourth. Nikola Mirotic led the winners with 15 points. Adam Hanga added 11 while Nick Calathes had 11 assists. Shavon Shields led Milan with 10 points but none of his teammates scored in double digits. Barcelona led 12-15 after 10 minutes and used a late first-half run to boost its margin to 29-38 at halftime. Mirotic and Hanga took over after the break, as the guests got a 42-54 margin late in the third quarter and kept controlling the game through outstanding defense until the final buzzer.

Vladimir Micov got Milan going with a jumper but Alex Abrines bettered it with a triple and Cory Higgins scored in transition for a 2-5 Barcelona lead. Zach LeDay and Micov each buried a jumper but Pierre Oriola scored twice in the paint to keep the guests ahead, 6-9. Brandon Davies followed a jump hook with a reverse slam off a steal but Jeremy Evans and Luigi Datome combined for all the points in a 6-0 run that brought Milan within 12-13. Rolands Smits scored down low to fix the score at 12-15 after 10 minutes. Evans struck from downtown early in the second quarter. Davies banked in a close shot, Shields found his first points and LeDay hit a jumper to give Milan a 19-17 edge. Hanga took over with a driving layup and Mirotic hit a three-pointer but Kyle Hines and Shields kept the hosts in charge, 25-22. Hanga scored again and Abrines struck from beyond the arc in a 0-7 run that Mirotic capped with a jump hook for a 25-29 score. Mirotic sank his second triple and got help from Higgins and Oriola to make it a nine-point game, 29-38, at halftime. LeDay, Shields and Kevin Punter each downed jumpers after the break but Higgins and an unstoppable Mirotic made it a double-digit game, 35-45. Mirotic scored again and Hanga followed a wild step-back triple with a layup, good for a 40-52 Barcelona lead. Evans stepped up with a tip-in, Hanga answered with a jump hook and LeDay kept Milan within 44-55 after 30 minutes. Smits scored in the paint early in the fourth quarter and Claver added a backdoor layup to break the game open, 44-60. Leo Westermann struck from beyond the arc, as Milan went scoreless for over 4 minutes until Riccardo Moraschini downed a jumper. Kyle Kuric answered with a fast break layup and Claver hit a close shot that sealed the outcome, 46-68, with 4 minutes remaining.

Pivotal performer

Nikola Mirotic was arguably the best player on the floor and made the difference at the right moment. He finished the game with 15 points on 4-of-5 two-point shots and 2-of-4 three-pointers, adding 5 rebounds, an assist, a steal and 3 fouls drawn for a PIR of 22.

Game-changing moment

Milan led 25-22 late in the first half but Barcelona found its regular go-to guy in Mirotic, who struck twice from downtown in a 4-16 run in which Alex Abrines also downed a triple, Adam Hanga and Pierre Oriola each scored around the basket and Cory Higgins buried a jumper to give the visiting team a 29-38 lead at halftime, switching the game's momentum.

Stellar stat

Barcelona kept Milan to very low shooting percentages in this game. Milan hit 15-of-39 shots inside the arc (38.5%) and only 2-of-15 from downtown (13.3%). Milan also picked up 17 turnovers, way over its season average (11.1).

Did you know?

Nick Calathes had more assists (11) than the entire Milan team (9). Calathes is averaging 7.1 assists this season, but has dished 25 in two games against Milan (12.5 apg.).

Next game

On Friday, March 26, Milan visits TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz at 19:00 CET, in a critical game in the playoffs race. Later on that night, 21:00 CET, Barcelona hosts ALBA Berlin. ALBA head coach Aito Garcia Reneses, who led Barcelona to nine Spanish League titles and three EuroLeague Championship Games, among other highlights, returns to Palau Blaugrana.

Nikola Mirotic - FC Barcelona - EB20
Friday, March 19, 2021
Euroleague.net
Referees: BELOSEVIC, ILIJA; JAVOR, DAMIR; HORDOV, TOMISLAV
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Milan12171512
FC Barcelona15231717
End of Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Milan12294456
FC Barcelona15385572
AX Armani Exchange Milan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 PUNTER, KEVIN 23:24 7 1/5 0/3 5/5 1 1 2   1 4     1 5 3
2 LEDAY, ZACH 21:04 8 3/5 0/2 2/2   3 3     1     2 3 7
5 MICOV, VLADIMIR 20:15 6 2/4   2/2         1 3     2 3 3
9 MORASCHINI, RICCARDO 10:57 8 1/3 1/1 3/3   1 1         1 1 1 6
10 ROLL, MICHAEL 18:52   0/4 0/2   1 3 4 3       1 3 1 -2
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 16:49   0/1 0/1         5 1 2     1 1 2
15 TARCZEWSKI, KALEB DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
31 SHIELDS, SHAVON 24:31 10 3/7 0/3 4/4   3 3 1 2 3     1 5 10
32 BROOKS, JEFF 18:09 2     2/2 1 4 5   1   1   1 1 9
40 EVANS, JEREMY 12:05 9 2/4 1/1 2/2 2 1 3     2     3 1 6
42 HINES, KYLE 22:36 4 2/4     1 2 3     2 2   1 2 6
70 DATOME, LUIGI 11:18 2 1/2 0/2   1   1           3   -3
Team           2 5 7               7
Totals 200:00 56 15/39 2/15 20/20 9 23 32 9 6 17 3 2 19 23 54
        38.5% 13.3% 100%
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 15:52 8 4/9     1 2 3   2 4 1 1 3 4 5
2 WESTERMANN, LEO 10:17 5 1/1 1/1     3 3 2 1 1     2   8
8 HANGA, ADAM 14:05 11 4/4 1/2     1 1     2     3 2 8
9 BOLMARO, LEANDRO 8:24   0/2 0/1             1   1 1 1 -5
10 SMITS, ROLANDS 12:48 6 2/2 0/1 2/4   3 3 2 1       2 2 9
18 ORIOLA, PIERRE 18:51 6 3/3     1 6 7 1 1 3 1   4   9
21 ABRINES, ALEX 17:09 6   2/5         1         3 1 2
22 HIGGINS, CORY 19:48 6 3/5 0/1     1 1 1 1 2   1 1 1 3
24 KURIC, KYLE 17:21 2 1/2 0/2     1 1   1       2   -1
30 CLAVER, VICTOR 14:38 7 2/2 0/1 3/4 2 1 3     1     1 4 10
33 MIROTIC, NIKOLA 23:55 15 4/5 2/4 1/1   5 5 1 1         3 22
99 CALATHES, NICK 26:52   0/5 0/1   1 5 6 11   1     1 1 10
Team           1   1               1
Totals 200:00 72 24/40 6/19 6/9 6 28 34 19 8 15 2 3 23 19 81
        60% 31.6% 66.7%
Head coach: JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS

Head Coaches

MESSINA, ETTORE
AX Armani Exchange Milan
"There is not too much to say, just to congratulate Barcelona on a great win. They imposed their will with a very athletic defense and we played a bad game, that's it. There is nothing more to add. We know that and will go back to work to pursue our goal, which is to make the playoffs."
JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
FC Barcelona

"We needed to be a little bit patient. I thought Nick Calathes really ran the team excellent in the second half. He put all the players in position, we knew where to attack. The defense of Victor Claver in certain possessions was just really spectacular. I don't know if we deserve it or not, we are first but it is not over with. We still didn't clinch first place and have work to do it. There are still very important games coming up."

"I thought in the second half, defensively, we were amazing. In the first half, some details were really hurting us and it's a great job to come here and beat this very, very good team. They have obviously been on a great run and to keep them to 56 points is really something special. This is just one evening - during the course of the year we play 80 games. I don't believe in statements and the next game is a different story but today we must be happy because Milan is coming from a huge win in Moscow, scoring a lot of points, Punter and Shields are playing at an incredible level, and we managed to slow them down a little bit, to get their percentages down."

Players

MIROTIC, NIKOLA
FC Barcelona
"I am proud of my team. I think that our attitude was amazing tonight. We knew that if we wanted to win this game, we had to play good defense. So it is a big win for us because against Milan, one of the best teams in the EuroLeague, we showed once again that we are playing good basketball. And I am very happy."
CALATHES, NICK
FC Barcelona
"I think that today especially, it was a team effort. If you look at the stats, everybody contributed and that is what we needed to be successful and to win big games like this. So it was a great win for us and hopefully we can keep it going."
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