When he received the MVP award trophy, to be added to the one he won in Spain with Barcelona just a year ago, Nikola Mirotic pointed to all his teammates. “It’s a collective award,” he said. Mirotic is aware that his 51 points in the last two games were the decisive boost to doom Virtus’ chances, but they made complete sense because in Game 1 Shabazz Napier tied the game late in the game with a huge three and because Shavon Shields hit six three-pointers in that game. They made complete sense because Nicolò Melli was incredibly consistent; because Stefano Tonut, Kyle Hines and Johannes Voigtmann gave so much and Diego Flaccadori was big at the right time; because Devon Hall defended against all opposing players and scored when needed; also because Pippo Ricci with his monstrous performance in Brescia allowed Olimpia to rest a little more than their opponent before Game 1.
Never underestimate the heart of a champion is a concept that suits Mirotic perfectly, who has saved his best for the last. Not just 30 points, 12 rebounds, 16/18 from the foul line, at least one key three in the fourth quarter with Bologna in all-out, desperate mood. There were also two blocks, one on a fade-away by Shengelia came in the second quarter in the middle of the run that allowed Olimpia to get away, between a three by Melli and one by Napier.
For Mirotic there were 30 points and 12 rebounds, a personal rating of 47. His best performance in the Italian league was saved for the championship game “à la Gigi Datome”. To find a player who has scored 30 or more points in a championship series for Olimpia we have to go back to 1991 when in Game 5 of the game between Milan and Caserta, Jay Vincent scored 32 points. Unfortunately it was a “losing effort”. To find a player with a 47 of personal rating in a championship series game we have to go back to the 1985/86 season when the late Cedric Henderson, who recently passed away, had 48 rating in Game 1 of the final between Milan and Caserta. Overall, the personal rating record belongs to Zeljko Rebraca (54 with 32 points and 12 rebounds) in Game 4 of Treviso-Fortitudo in 1997.
The last player to score 30 or more points in a championship series game ironically was Shavon Shields who had 31 in the 2018 series, Game 5, between Milan and Trento when he was playing for Trento.
With the 16 free throws made out of 18 in yesterday’s game Mirotic also ties the record for a finals’ game held by Carlton Myers who in the 2000/01 season with Fortitudo Bologna made 16 free throws out of 17 attempts in Game 3 in the series played against Virtus Bologna.
