Istanbul (Türkiye) – If Olimpia could never go through the Sinan Erden Arena of Istanbul in the next editions of the Euroleague perhaps it would be calmer. As in 2019 and 2022 the European history of Milan stops on the Bosphorus with the loss making playoff qualification virtually impossible. After the fantastic streak of 8 successes in 9 games Milan still had no alternative to victory to keep hoping and instead il not 89-69 he makes the hole ever narrower to find his way back towards eighth place.
Efes, on the other hand, is back in the running for qualification also counting on a favorable calendar and the leaders start sweating for a possible crossing in the quarter-finals against the Turks.
This time Luwawu-Cabarrot’s 19 points are not enough (5/9 from 2 and 4/7 from 3) and Voigtmann’s 12 with 4/6 from the arc), because the 17 turnovers are too big a handicap to overcome on the field of the reigning European bi-champions. Efes blocks the source of the Milanese game Napier (only 6 points and 3 losses) e Olimpia found no real alternatives. Milan wastes a magical evening in archery (11/22) shooting very badly from two without ever being able to attack the Turkish area.
Olimpia got off to a good start with triples from Voigtmann and Tonut (12-14), but the reaction of Efes is immediate by responding from the arc with Micic and Clyburn and then with the very long Pleiss (20-14). Milan struggles because they lose too many balls (already 8 in the 13th minute) so Efes takes the game by the hand when they start repeatedly hitting 3-pointers: Larkin twice, then Bryant and the Turks escape with a double-digit lead on 38- 27. There Ataman team moves the ball which is a pleasure, thus he builds a lot of open pitches which, on time, end up in the Milanese retina. So the score says 47-32 at halftime.
It seems incredible, but even if Napier and Voigtmann still score from 3 with a team 8/11, Milan is still under 51-38. Efes made no mistakes, Larkin was the protagonist like Beuabois and literally created a vacuum when the free throws arrived 68-45 in the 29th minute. In the last period, Milan tries to restore a slightly less bitter frame to the game with an 8-point break that brings it back to 68-53, but it is the champion who makes his name Vasilije Micic who on his return from the timeout signs the triple that immediately extinguishes any desire for a Milanese comeback.
Thursday the Euroleague marathon doesn’t stop and Olimpia will be on stage in the very hot Tel-Aviv (where yesterday Virtus Bologna lost 111-80) these days at the center of attention from all over the world, not for sporting reasons. It is played at 20.05 and the match seems guaranteed despite the climate of protest in Israel these days. In the league, however, the appointment is set for Sunday 2 April when Armani will host Venice on the day when Dan Peterson’s shirt will be symbolically picked up.
EFES ISTANBUL-EA7 EMPORIO ARMANI MILAN 89-69
22-16; 47-32; 68-48
ISTANBUL: Larkin 18, Beaubois 12, Singleton and, Bryant 12, Gazi, Clyburn 16, Arna, Tuncer and, Pleiss 8, Micic 15, M’Baye 2, Zizic 6. All. Ataman
MILANO: Davies 9, Thomas, Luwawu-Cabarrot 19, Mitrou-Long 2, Tonut 2, Melli 5, Baron 3, Napier 6, Ricci, Shields 5, Hines 6, Voigtmann 12. All. Messina
Note: Tiri da 2 : EI, MI 14/29; Tiri da 3: NO, MI 11/22; Tiri liberi: NO, MI 8/9; rimbalzi: NO, MI 24 (Luwawu-Cabarrot 6); assist: NO, MI 22 (Davies 4)
