The visiting team closed shop when the chips were down and eked out a precious road win
Milan showed nerves of steel in a tight finish against Zvezda
Straipsnis
3 Minutė skaityti
Regular Season
Round 29 of 34
Group Regular Season
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EA7 Emporio Armani Milan leaned on several usual suspects as it captured an 80-82 victory at Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade in Round 29 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season thanks to a strong effort from Shavon Shields.
With the game tied 78-78 in a nail-biting finish, Shields broke a 3-and-a-half minute deadlock and netted a tough layup to give Milan the lead for good, ultimately playing a key role in his team’s victory.
With both teams struggling offensively late in the game, Milan’s defense was airtight as the visitors prevailed on the back of 14 points from Shields and 19 by Nikola Mirotic, who also racked up 7 rebounds.
“It was a super tough road game, but it’s a tough environment,” Shields said in his postgame comments. “A good team with lots of talented players, but guys came off our bench to contribute, so hats off to everybody in the locker room.
“We’ve now got five tough games left and hopefully we can put together a good run to finish the season. In the end, we took it one possession at a time and ultimately we made enough plays to win the game.”
Mirotic hit several deep three-pointers at various stages of the game, one of them in the fourth quarter when the game hung in the balance, while he also provided the necessary presence in the paint.
“It’s always a big pleasure to play here and tonight it was a very important game for both teams,” said Mitrovic. “We stepped up, especially defensively as it was a game with lots of ups and downs. We just wanted to be in a position to win the game in the closing stages and with a bit of luck, we did.”
Coach Ettore Messina acknowledged it was a huge win for Milan ahead of the home straight of the regular season, with the Italian side needing to keep up the good work in order to reach the postseason.
“The win is obviously extremely important for our confidence and the position in the standings,” Messina said. “Both teams missed shots in the fourth quarter, but we were able to get two or three stops in a row and that was the key. We rebounded well and we have to continue to do well on the road as we have a tough schedule.”
In Round 30, Milan visits Paris Basketball while Zvezda is away to runaway EuroLeague leader Olympiacos Piraeus.