2018-19Regular SeasonRound 8
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan 93
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 90
November 21, 2018 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 MEDIOLANUM FORUM

Micov, James lead Milan past Baskonia

AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milano improved to 6-2 by downing KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 93-90 at home on Wednesday. Vladimir Micov led the winners with 22 points. Mike James tallied 20 points and 8 assists, Curtis Jerrells scored 13 and Jeff Brooks posted 12 points and 7 rebounds for Milan. Vincent Poirier and Matt Janning led Baskonia with 18 points apiece. Poirier collected 10 rebounds for a double-double. Luca Vildoza added 15 points and Marcelinho Huertas 10 for the visitors.

Micov and James combined for 9 quick points to give Milan an early 11-6 lead. Toko Shengelia hit a jump hook, Vildoza added a floater and an outstanding Poirier scored three times around the basket to keep Baskonia within 18-16. Arturas Gudaitis and Micov stepped up for the hosts, but Poirier got help from Patricio Garino and Janning to keep Baskonia close, 27-26, after 10 minutes. A jumper by Janning gave the visitors the lead early in the second quarter. Brooks and Jerrells each hit a triple. Free throws by Gudaitis gave Milan fresh air at 35-30. Jerrells and Brooks insisted from downtown and Dairis Bertans added another one that made it a double-digit game, 44-34. Shengelia followed a layup with a dunk in a 0-9 run highlighted by Darrun Hilliard's three-point play to make it 44-43. Brooks nailed another three-pointer to fix the halftime score at 47-43. James followed a corner triple with a drive that capped an 8-0 run. Janning and Johannes Voigtmann tried to change things for Baskonia and Vildoza struck from downtown to give the visitors hope at 56-50. James and Micov kept pacing Milan, but Shengelia and Vildoza answered for a 66-60 score. Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Micov allowed Milan to keep a 73-68 edge after 30 minutes. Huertas and Janning took over early in the fourth quarter, bringing Baskonia within 77-75. Jerrells and James each connected from beyond the arc and a three-point play by Brooks gave Milan an 88-79 margin with over three minutes left. Hilliard and Vildoza buried a triple apiece, but a free throw by James gave Milan an 89-85 margin with 1:16 left. Vildoza hit a jumper only to see Jerrells seal the outcome from the foul line.

Pivotal performer

James did a little bit of everything against his former team, scoring 16 of his 20 points in the second half. He dished 8 assists and pulled down a couple of rebounds to finish the game with a performance index rating of 20.

Game-changing moment

With the game on the line, 89-97, Jerrells hit free throws and Brooks had a critical block on Shengelia and that defensive stop gave Milan the ball back. Jerrells returned to the foul line, was perfect again and sealed the outcome with 8 seconds remaining

Stellar stat

Three-point shots and free throws made the difference in this game. Milan hit 14 of 30 three-pointers (46.7%) while limiting Baskonia to 8 of 23 (34.8%). Baskonia dominated inside (64.6% 2FG, Milan 53.1%) but it was not enough for the Spanish powerhouse.

Did you notice?

Baskonia hit just 4 of 11 free throws (36.4%); that is the team's lowest free throw shooting percentage in EuroLeague history. Shengelia missed all 6 of his attempts from the foul line.

Next game:

Both teams return to EuroLeague action on Friday. Milan visits FC Barcelona Lassa, while Baskonia hosts Panathinaikos OPAP Athens.

Vladimir Micov - AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan - EB18
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Euroleague.net
Referees: JOVCIC, MILIVOJE; ROCHA, FERNANDO; MANTYLA, PETRI
Attendance: 7754
By Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan27202620
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz26172522
End of Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan27477393
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz26436890
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 29:33 20 4/8 3/6 3/4   2 2 8   4       2 20
5 MICOV, VLADIMIR 29:25 22 4/7 3/7 5/5       3 2 2     3 3 18
7 GUDAITIS, ARTURAS 22:34 6 1/2   4/4 1 4 5       1 1 2 5 13
9 BERTANS, DAIRIS 21:32 3   1/2     1 1 2 1       3 2 5
13 FONTECCHIO, SIMONE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
15 TARCZEWSKI, KALEB 17:26 8 4/5   0/2 3 4 7 1   3   1 2 1 8
19 KUZMINSKAS, MINDAUGAS 15:09 5 1/5 1/3   1 2 3 1 1 2   1 2 1  
20 CINCIARINI, ANDREA 12:50 4 2/2 0/1     1 1   1       3   2
23 BURNS, CHRISTIAN 2:33     0/1                       -1
32 BROOKS, JEFF 28:03 12 1/2 3/4 1/1 2 5 7 1     1   3 1 17
55 JERRELLS, CURTIS 20:55 13 0/1 3/6 4/4 1 3 4 2       1   5 19
Team             4 4     1         3
Totals 200:00 93 17/32 14/30 17/20 8 26 34 18 5 12 2 4 18 20 104
        53.1% 46.7% 85%
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
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 VILDOZA, LUCA 24:53 15 3/5 3/7     2 2 4 1   1   2   15
5 GONZALEZ, MIGUEL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 VOIGTMANN, JOHANNES 15:34 4 2/3       1 1 2   2 1 1 1   3
9 HUERTAS, MARCELINHO 19:29 10 5/8 0/2   1 1 2 4   1     3 1 8
11 JANNING, MATT 28:53 18 3/3 4/8     5 5   1 1     2 2 19
12 DIOP, ILIMANE 5:45 2 1/1     1   1       1   1   3
17 POIRIER, VINCENT 30:51 18 8/10   2/2 6 4 10 2 1   1   2 2 30
23 SHENGELIA, TORNIKE 27:50 8 4/8   0/6   5 5 1   2   1 2 7 6
29 GARINO, PATRICIO 12:04 5 2/2 0/2 1/1   2 2   1       2 2 6
31 SHIELDS, SHAVON 7:35 2 1/2             1       1 1 2
32 HILLIARD, DARRUN 27:06 8 2/6 1/4 1/2   3 3 1   3     4 3  
Team           2   2               2
Totals 200:00 90 31/48 8/23 4/11 10 23 33 14 5 9 4 2 20 18 94
        64.6% 34.8% 36.4%
Head coach: PERASOVIC, VELIMIR

Head Coaches

PIANIGIANI, SIMONE
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
"We are very happy because my players put everything on the court. Right now we are not in our best moment, in our best shape, but we played smart on offense, my players choose well all the time and we led more or less all game long. I think that my players deserved this win and this start in the EuroLeague, overcoming injuries and some problems that we have. Our defense was not perfect in some moments tonight but honestly, they put all their energy on the court, so for me, this is very important."
PERASOVIC, VELIMIR
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
"First of all, congratulations to Milan. They are in a great moment now and play very easy. We had problems against their three-point shots, all game long. We had some opportunities to make the game tight but we missed 3-4 times and after that, Milan found the way to finish the game with a victory. Three-point shots made the difference in this game, also in free throws. We made the same number of fouls but Milano had more free throws and a better percentage. That was the difference for me, because we were tight in everything else - rebounds and other things, but free throws and three-point shots decided the game."

Players

JAMES, MIKE
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
"I feel good. We needed a win because the two games we lost were at home. We didn't really like that, so we needed to come out with a win and show that we can win at home. It was a big game for us to keep our confidence and keep going strong. It is cool (being the MVP in Milan's three home wins) but it is better than we won, though."
MICOV, VLADIMIR
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
"Like I always say, I don't care about me and my points because the most important things is that we won. It doesn't matter who was the top scorer of the game. It is a very important win for us, we were controlling the game from the very first moment until the end. Of course, there were too many ups and downs, in some moments we were up by 10 and then we made the same mistakes as in previews games. For example, against Real Madrid and CSKA Moscow, we allowed too many easy points, too many open three-point shots. They managed to come back and the game became a thriller but in the end, I think we were much better and smarter. We scored some important free throws in the end. It is a very important win for us because we want to stay in the top of the rankings."
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