Olimpia approaches its first “close-out game” on his home court. Over the last five seasons when it had the chance to close a quarterfinal series, Olimpia took advantae of it three times out of four but always on the road (the only exception was during the 2022/23 season when it lost Game 3 in Pesaro before prevailing in the fourth act). In general Olimpis is 11-3 in this type of games and when it has played them at home it has always won. But in the playoffs there is no game more hard to won than the one that can close a series. Trento will play to survive and bring the series back to its arena. It is true that during the Messina era, Olimpia is 24-3 at home in the playoffs but the only game lost from 2022 onwards was against Trento, last year. In short, caution is a must. In Game 3, Olimpia changed its starting five by taking out a pure center (Nebo in Game 1 and Diop in Game 2) and for the second time immediately featured Armoni Brooks. Beyond the small adjustments, Game 3 was undoubtedly the best game of the series in terms of ball movement (21 assists), shooting accuracy (not only 20 of 34 from three-point range, but also 20 of 29 on twos, compared to the 34 of 81 shooting in Trento’s games) and physicality rebounding tha ball. Olimpia dominated with the collective effort of all the players on the court. The disparity between free trows attempts, 28 to 11, was big but this time irrelevant for the outcome of the game. The rest was done by the defense which in general was almost always able to keep Trento below the seasonal averages.
The Keys
- Three-point shooting: Olimpia was first overall in the EuroLeague in three-point shooting, so it is not a surprise that finally was capable to unlock its potential, going 20-for-34 in Game 3.
- Rebounds: in Trento, the rebounding battle was lightly favorabile to Trento (+4 in Game 1 and +3 in Game 2). However, in Milan, Olimpia had a +18 differential.
- Defense: Olimpia’s generally been able to keep Trento’s offense under control. Afetr allowing 70 points in both Trento games, Olimpia held the opponent to 79 in a blow-out
Series Schedule
| Game 1 | Saturday 17 May | H 18:00 | Trento | 70-73 |
| Game 2 | Monday 19 May | H 20:00 | Trento | 70-67 |
| Game 3 | Thursday 22 May | H 20:45 | Milano | 107-79 |
| Game 4 | Saturday 24 May | H 18:00 | Milano | – |
| Game 5* | Tuesday 27 May | TBD | Trento | – |
Game 3 Story
| 1°Q | Olimpia built a 7-point lead on a Flaccadori’s three, then closed the quarter up by five, 24-19, on a Pippo Ricci’s buzzer beating three. |
| 2°Q | Olimpia was ahead by nine, 46-37, after attempting to get away after a sequence of five threes made by Mirotic and Shields |
| 3°Q | The 7-0 run allows Olimpia to extend its lead |
| 4°Q | Armoni Brooks scores 15 points in the second half, the lead exploded and the game was over |
