Just like one week ago, Olimpia is returning to the court less than 48 hours after its EuroLeague game for a crucial regular season game against Sassari. The difference is the location: this time there are no trips in between, as Olimpia will stay inside the Forum friendly confines. On top of it, Nikola Mirotic will be back. on a minutes restrictions, after 20 games watched from the sidelines (12-8, Olimpia’s record). Johannes Voigtmann and Nicolò Melli’s availability will be game time decision for Coach Ettore Messina. Olimpia’s won the last three Italian league games and six of the last seven after losing exactly in Sassari.

The game is a significant one because Olimpia is trying to climb the ladder in the Italian league, because Sassari has faced Olimpia during the last two semifinals series in the playoffs (Olimpia has won every game of each series and the two teams shared a recent but relevant rivalry. Besides, Sassari has replaced its coach Piero Bucchi with Nenad Markovic. “It is not the first time we face a team who has just changed its coach. There is some unknown factor in facing a team with a new coach. For us, it is a game where we need to focus on ourselves,” assistant coach Mario Fioretti said.

Since the last time the two teams played, Sassari had added Brandon Jefferson, a small, quick guard who averages more than seven three-pointers attempted per game, and has recovered Ousmane Diop, a strong center who can share the minutes with the other big man, the Frenchman Stephane Gombauld. Dinamo is counting also on some exerienced players such as Stefano Gentile, Filip Kruslin, Vassilis Charalampopoulos, Alfonzo McKinnie and Kaspars Treier. “They have quality at every position,” Fioretti pointed out.