The Italian side improved to 1-1 after securing an impressive win against Olympiacos Piraeus.
Milan 'sent a message' on historic night
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In an early season collision of two teams aiming for Turkish Airlines EuroLeague glory this season, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan beat Olympiacos Piraeus 65-53 in what proved to be a defensive battle at Mediolanum Forum.
Milan's home opener was a celebratory and a historic night. It started with Luigi Datome being inducted into the club's Hall of Fame, then Kyle Hines broke the record for most games played when he entered the contest with 1:15 left in the first quarter. Come the final buzzer, there was another piece of history made as head coach Ettore Messina grabbed his 300th career win, joining a club that now only has two members: Zeljko Obradovic (336 wins) and Coach Messina.
Pulling away in the fourth
It was a battle in which neither team had a double-digit lead until the final 99 seconds. Olympiacos went up 44-45 after a little more than a minute of play in the fourth quarter, but Kevin Pangos sparked Milan's offense and a 16-2 run that secured the hosts' win.
For Nikola Mirotic, the game's leading scorer with 20 points, the triumph against the Reds was a statement victory.
"It is not an easy start [to the season]", Mirotic said when asked about playing Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul and Olympiacos in Milan's first two games, and a trip to face Real Madrid in Round 4 on Thursday night. "But we are here to send a message that this year we are going to try to get there, to be on top of the EuroLeague. Every game matters for us."
Turning up the heat on defense
While Mirotic was responsible for nearly one third of Milan's points on Tuesday night, he and his teammates played some stellar defense and therefore held Olympiacos under 50 points until the final 30 seconds of the game.
"Our defense was really at a high level and carried us the entire game", Messina commented.
The final total of 53 points is the fewest that Olympiacos has scored in nearly six years, when it scored 51 in a road loss against FC Barcelona.
"We counted missing 13 layups or two-point shots around the rim; in a high-percentage area, we missed 13 possessions", Olympiacos head coach Georgios Bartzokas stated after the game. "At the same time, we had 26.3% for threes. Scoring 53 points, we could not have won this game."
Milan rode that defense to its first win of the season, and it got a nice boost of momentum ahead of its trip to the Spanish capital, where it will take on the defending champion on Thursday night.