Ettore Messina’s squad are one win away from becoming Italian champions
Mirotic helps Milan take 2-1 lead in series against Virtus
Članak
4 Min čitanja
With the series having shifted to the Forum, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan was able to take advantage of playing in front of its own fans by beating Virtus Segafredo Bologna 81-78 to take a 2-1 lead in the Italian League finals. Milan won Game 1 in overtime in Bologna, but Virtus responded in Game 2, so this Game 3 victory means Ettore Messina’s side needs just one win to clinch the Italian championship.
Nikola Mirotic starred for Milan with a game-high 21 points, with Shabazz Napier adding 14, Shavon Shields netting 13 and Diego Flaccadori scoring 12. Nicolo Melli may have had just 6 points, but he did grab a game-high 9 rebounds. For Virtus, Jordan Mickey was the team’s leading scorer with 17 points. Toko Shengelia and Iffe Lundberg both had 11 points, while Marco Belinelli chipped in with 10.
There was almost no separating the two teams for the majority of the night, starting right from the first quarter. Milan was able to hold a narrow lead in the early going, yet Virtus twice went ahead (10-11, 12-13) just past the halfway point of the opening stanza. As it turned out, that would prove to be the only moment in which Virtus would be in front in the first half. Although it remained tight in the remainder of the quarter, a Devon Hall three-pointer right at the end of the period ensured Milan led 29-25 at the end of the first 10 minutes.
Virtus remained on Milan’s coattails in the second quarter but could never find a way to tie the score. Then, with under five minutes to go before halftime, back-to-back three-pointers by Napier and Stefano Tonut allowed Milan to take a seven-point advantage, 41-34, a game-high lead which it then matched after two points from Mirotic, 44-37, with 1:41 remaining. However, a triple by Alessandro Pajola managed to make it a 46-44 ballgame at the break.
In the opening minutes of the third period, Belinelli brought Virtus level, 46-46, but a similar story to the first half resumed – Milan staying ahead by the slimmest of margins. In fact, it wasn’t until a Johannes Voigtmann three-pointer set a 58-54 score that the hosts were able to lead by more than one possession, which came with 4:23 to go in the quarter. Milan then extended that lead to five points, 62-57, after a couple of free throws by Shields and a score by Flaccadori, following a surge by Virtus that saw the visitors get within two. At the end of the third quarter, Milan led 62-59.
Milan had managed to hold on to its lead for most of the game, but Virtus caused a scare early in the fourth when Bryant Dunston put Luca Banchi’s side in charge, 62-63, with 8:54 remaining. Napier soon reestablished Milan’s lead, then it was Mirotic and the American guard who later helped the hosts go six points up, 71-65, with 6:30 left. Virtus refused to go away and trimmed the gap to 71-70 on the back of a triple by Achille Polonara and a score by Lundberg, but Milan once again found a way to take charge, going 75-70 ahead with four minutes to go. In the final stages, Shengelia made it 79-76 with 1:15 left, then scored again to make it 79-78 with 40 seconds on the clock. Then, Mirotic kept his cool from the line by going 2 for 2 with 12 seconds remaining and Melli blocked Lundberg’s three-point attempt as Milan came away with an 81-78 triumph.