No birthday joy for Zeljko Obradovic as Milan rolls on

EA7 Emporio Armani Milan and its head coach, Ettore Messina, gave Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade tactician Zeljko Obradovic a red-carpet birthday reception and then pulled it from right under his feet, as the home team romped to a 76-62 win – its sixth in a row – at Mediolanum Forum on Thursday to keep alive its hopes of reaching the playoffs.
Messina embraced Obradovic before the tipoff, and the Serbian revealed during the post-game press conference that he had received royal treatment from his hosts. “I got a present from Milan as a club and a separate one from Coach Messina," Obradovic told reporters in Italian on the day he turned 63. "For that, I thank them and I also want to highlight it was an incredible atmosphere. Congratulations to Milan, they deserved to win."
Having made a good start, Partizan fell apart in the last 10 minutes, and it was Milan’s steely defense throughout the contest which eventually paved the way for a smooth fourth quarter on offense. The home team racked up 18 assists against 12 turnovers, while Partizan only had 8 assists, having committed 18 turnovers to put wind into Milan’s sails.
Long-range shooting was a factor, too, as Milan sank 9-of-25 three-pointers, whereas Partizan went 4-of-16 from deep. The depth of Milan’s roster was everywhere to be seen as fit-again Kevin Pangos and sharpshooter Billy Baron delivered in crunch time alongside Shabazz Napier, who buried a clutch three-pointer at the end of the third quarter.
The home stretch belonged to Brandon Davies, who scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter against a tired-looking Partizan defense. It was the second time in a row that Milan has held the opposition to 62 points at home, having blown away Olympiacos Piraeus 83-62 prior to a gritty 84-88 road win over Valencia Basket.
Coach Messina lauded his players for a workmanlike performance and victory: “We are all extremely happy, because we beat a tough team that plays defense with great discipline. After a slow start, when we missed shots because we weren’t competing, the team reacted extremely well. We stepped up the defense and we were very disciplined in looking for Baron’s shots. Brandon [Davies] had a very good game, together with Kyle [Hines] and Nicolo [Melli]. The two point guards [Napier and Pangos] controlled the tempo, and that was of big help to us.”
Both teams are looking at tough road trips in Round 29, with Milan taking on Real Madrid and Partizan heading to Turkiye to face back-to-back defending champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul.