Shooting well both inside (64 percent) and outside the arc (40 percent, Olimpia started the game going 5-for-5 on threes) and 25 assists were not enough for Olimpia to beat Maccabi. A defensive collapse allowed Maccabi to win 98-90 in Milan. “Our identity, our defense has disappeared – Coach Ettore Messina had to admit at the end – it’s worrisome. We allow too many easy drives and the big men are caught off guard. In the last we have been able to defend with great players who were not good defenders, Sergio Rodriguez and Gigi Datome come to mind, because there was this desire not to let the opponent beat you as first order. This has been embarrassing tonight. Maccabi ran, Maccabi scored, on isolations plays, backdoor cuts, offensive rebounds. And this is happening routinely. So, I can understand the fans’ frustration. We should be a different team.”

Olimpia scored 32 points in the first quarter. Three players combined for more than 60 points, scoring at will. Mirotic, Shields and Voigtmann. But the defense was not there since the jump ball. Maccabi scored on its first ten possessions, made its first nine shots. When Olimpia was able to limit the opponent, it built a lead that reached 10 points early in the second period. Early in the third there was another attempt to take away. But no lead was safe for more than a couple of possessions because simply Maccabi scored anytime it wanted. Gradually the offense couldn’t sustain the effort. Maccabi led by its athletic big men, Bonzi Colson, Jasiel Rivero, Josh Nebo took clear control of the game.

Olimpia last all-out assault came late in the game when Shavon Shields with a huge three reduces the gap to one single point with 2:59 left in the game. Enter Lorenzo Brown. Maccabi’s point-man made two huge threes to establish his team control on the game.