Ettore Messina's players went up by 20 points shortly before the halftime break in what was a dominant first half.
Milan's first-half effort paid off against Barcelona
Statistiche
3 Minuto di lettura
Regular Season
Round 23 of 34
Regular Season
EA7 Emporio Armani MilanEA7
7470
FC BarcelonaBAR
Overview
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EA7 Emporio Armani Milan bounced back from its recent losses by edging FC Barcelona 74-70 at the Forum to get its 10th victory of the season. An outstanding first half allowed Milan to get on the right track to win this Round 23 clash.
Ettore Messina's side played outstanding defense in the first half, forcing Barca to shoot the ball with low percentages and sharing the ball really well on offense. Before halftime, Barca hit just 9-of-25 two-pointers (36% 2FG). The hosts allowed Barca to take just 4 three-point shots and had to wait until the 20th minute of the game to hit 1, which came from Jabari Parker.
Milan impressed on both ends in the first half
On the other hand, Milan hit 14-of-22 shots inside the arc (63.6% 2FG) and did better than its opponent in pretty much every statistical category. At halftime, Milan had 2 blocks, 8 assists, 3 steals and just 3 turnovers. Moreover, even when Barca had more assists, 10, it had no steals and picked up as many as 8 turnovers. All of that translated into a big difference between both teams' first-half PIR: Milan amassed a PIR of 60 and Barca only had a PIR of 23. Above all, Milan led 47-28 at the break.
"We have to play for 40 minutes, not just 20 minutes," Milan head coach Ettore Messina said at halftime. "Twenty is not enough, and we know very well because we wasted a lot of leads this year. We need to keep playing for 20 more minutes."
A different story after the break
Coach Messina kind of predicted what would happen after the break. Even though Milan did not trail at any time, it had to wait until the final seconds to seal the outcome. Milan's ball circulation was worse in the second half, getting just 6 assists and recording as many as 11 turnovers. Barca had more steals (5) than turnovers (3) in the second half. Milan also struggled to score both inside and outside the arc, burying just 5-of-17 two-point attempts (29.4% 2FG) and 2-of-16 shots from downtown (12.5% 3FG).
"We cannot be satisfied with such a double-faced game. We need to continue to work a lot, watch film, talk, and hopefully we will be better," Coach Messina stated after the game. "Don't forget that we had Barca on the other side. It was not possible that they would continue like [they played] in the first half. You also have to give them credit for what they did and for how they came back."
Milan has beaten Barca twice this season, as it registered an 86-90 victory at Palau Blaugrana in Round 14. Friday's night triumph kept the Italian side's hopes of making the EuroLeague Playoffs alive, too.