Euroleague, Olimpia dominates Valencia with super Mirotic

Finally Milan. The best Olimpia of the Euroleague season chases away the nightmares of the last few weeks and takes a walk on Valencia: it ends 83-52. The Spaniards – so far defeated only by Efes – never have the opportunity to get into the game. Messina’s men thus achieved 2 wins and 5 defeats with a great team performance on both sides of the pitch.

WHAT A START

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Olimpia starts with Maodo Lo and Shields together with Mirotic, Melli and Poythress. And he hits the accelerator ferociously from the first minute. Carrying his teammates on his shoulders at the start is the usual Mirotic, this evening in a state of grace: he will finish with 19 points and 8/12 from the field. For long stretches of the match the former Barcelona player was infallible and helped Milan build a lead that would never be touched again. Valencia was neutralized by Messina’s defense and the lead soon reached double figures. The score doesn’t change in the second quarter, with Olimpia also reaching +19. Then, however, the attack slows down and Valencia puts its head back out: a 9-1 run brings the Spaniards back to -13 in a few minutes and risks bringing Milan’s insecurities back to the surface.

MILAN DOMAIN

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The wind, however, has changed. Milan does not give discounts: stopping is prohibited. In the second half, then, Olimpia starts again with the same competitive anger seen at the beginning of the match and immediately sets the record straight. The partial in the third quarter is merciless: 20-8 for the Messina team and a lead that even reaches +25 in the third quarter before the final +31. Now yes, it’s a celebration: (almost) everyone scores, even Bortolani, to whom Messina concedes the final minutes of the match. And it matters little if Shields allows himself to finish with 0 points for one evening. The Forum stands up, sings, applauds. After 5 consecutive defeats in the Euroleague, Milan starts again from here.

MILAN: Mirotic 19, Lo 10, Voigtmann 9.
VALENCIA: Harper 10, Davies 9, Reuvers 8.