The first shot of his new EuroLeague career was a three. Since nothing was missed over a great night to remember, at the end, on top of winning the game, Nicolò Melli had crossed the 400 points scored in the EuroLeague with the Olimpia jersey on, and got 22 rebounds away from 1,000 in his career. There is another fact that should be noted: Melli went 8-for-11 from the line, the result of nine fouls drawn (a career record, never more than seven so far). He also tied his career high of free throws made (he had eight twice, with Fenerbahce, the first time against Khimki and the second time against Baskonia in the playoffs), but set his new record for free throws earned. The first three came on a three-pointer from the corner, contested with a shooting foul, the other eight earned by pure strength inside the paint, by through sheer will, through rebounding the ball. “Besides the first quarter – he said – we were very good on defense and we shared the ball on offense. We played very good. Against CSKA, it’s never easy. We had a great win to start this EuroLeague campaign. After last year, playing is already enough [for me]. Having an important role in the team is huge for me, but that’s because the team allows me to have this kind of role. But we play as a team and this is the nice part, to suffer and battle on the court with your teammates. This is what I missed the most and I’m happy to have found this again.”

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