To make sense of the Game 1 win and really get closer to another championship series, it is necessary for Olimpia to win Game 2 too. The 61 points scored in the first half of Game 1 are an enormity and in the playoffs even an anomaly. However, Olimpia had scored 28 points in the first quarter against the same opponent in the regular season and in the playoffs it is producing over 90 points per game. So high scores have not been an exception lately. It is also true that Game 1 looked normalized in the second half, which ended 40-36 for Brescia, at a regular pace, and the very high number of free throws attempted by both teams also had a significant impact. 34 were attempted by Brescia, 28 by Milan. Both converted them with efficiency close to 90 percent. Olimpia had seven total points from Shavon Shields and Nikola Mirotic, who was limited to eight minutes by fouls. Nik Melli himself had foul problems, three in the first half alone. Johannes Voigtmann on one side and Amedeo Della Valle on the other, played a game beyond the expectations. The German tore the game apart in the first half and from that moment on Brescia was never able to get within a single possession margin. Della Valle with his monster second half prevented Olimpia from closing it out early as seemed possible several times. Both teams took great care of the ball, counting eight turnovers each in total; Olimpia had more assists and won the rebounding battle. The 15 offensive rebounds taken provided extra opportunities especially in the second half. The six men in double figures, with Diego Flaccadori crucial off the bench, were another decisive factor. But this happened in Game 1 while Game 2 will be for another day. Tip off time will be 20:45 in Milan.
GAME NOTES – During the Messina era, Olimpia is now 9-2 in Games 1. When it won Game 1 it also won the series nine times out of nine. Over this period, Olimpia is 21-3 in playoffs’ home games. After the four defensive rebounds taken in Game 1, Nik Melli reached 268 playoffs defensive rebounds for his career and overtook Dino Meneghin as the all-time leader in Olimpia. Melli has grabbed 989 all-time defensive rebounds in the Italian league, six behind Bob McAdoo’s 4th place all-time. Johannes Voigtmann‘s 21 points in Game 1 are a season high and his second-best personal scoring performance in Italy after the 22 points that he scored in Game 1 of last season’s semifinal game, against Sassari. The eight rebounds in Game 1 are a Olimpia personal high for Stefano Tonut. His career high is nine. Shabazz Napier‘s next three will be the 100th while playing for Olimpia. Olimpia is now 207-138 in the Italian league playoffs games; 65-42 in semifinal games.
