Over the last ten EuroLeague games, Real Madrid, Olympiacos, Partizan and Olimpia have had the best overall record, 8-2. Olimpia has won eight of the last nine; over this streak it has beaten both Olympiacos and Partizan, losing by four points in Madrid. The streak is validated by the value of the opponents, given that Milan faced the top two teams in the standings and the other hot team of the competition. Because of the winning streak, interrupted only by Real Madrid, it has risen in the standings up to the current 10th place, tied with Valencia and Anadolu Efes. Now the last EuroLeague week with two consecutive games begins. Olimpia is approaching the 8th “back-to-back” setting of its season, but it must be said that in these games the team has often given out its best, winning nine of these 14 games. The two-time defending European champions Efes is coming off an unexpected defeat in Berlin, when it was killed by a Luke Sikma putback, after coming back from a 19-point deficit. The two teams met six times last year with a 3-3 record, one more time in Milan earlier this year with a large Efes’ win. The difficulties of the game are obvious, but they will be magnified by Efes’ absolute need to seize a win to move forward in its chase to clinch a playoffs’ berth, a chase that is validated by the schedule: in the last four games, Efes will never have to leave Istanbul because three games are scheduled to be played at home and the fourth at Fenerbahce. After Istanbul, Olimpia will have to go to Tel Aviv. In the meantime, Shavon Shields has returned. He has only been able to play six games in this EuroLeague, almost never with unlimited playing time. The team record in these six games is 5-1.

REFEREES – Robert Lottermoser (Germany), Mehdi Difallah (France), Uros Nikolic (Serbia).

COACH ETTORE MESSINA – “Efes is the team that won the last two titles; they have experience, depth, talent, and now the absolute need in front of their fans to win all the next games. Facing a strong, experienced and very motivated team is the most difficult thing to manage, especially since we played two EuroLeague games last week as well. Despite this, we would like to play another game of personality and quality like the ones we played in the EuroLeague in the last month and a half, trying to look for all the energy and resources we can recover both physically and mentally.”

ANADOLU EFES – The European Champions have adjusted their roster more than they did the previous season after conquering their first title. Some veterans have left namely Kruno Simon, James Anderson, and Adrien Moerman, but Chris Singleton came back mid-season to replace Achille Polonara. The list of stars obviously begins with Vasa Micic, the reigning Final Four’s MVP, 16.0 points and 5.5 assists per game over 32 minutes of average use, and goes down to Shane Larkin, who is averaging 12.1 points and 4.6 assists per game, and he is shooting 37.5 percent from three. The other guards are Rodrigue Beaubois (11.4 points per game, 49.5 percent from three) and Elijah Bryant (8.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game). Will Clyburn is the most used player, averaging 33.4 minutes per game, while averaging 17.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. He’s also shooting 37.6 percent from three. As a power forward, beyond Singles, Amath M’Baye is averaging 7.5 points per game shooting 51.8 percent on threes. Finally, at the center position, Efes is the deepest team in the competition with three high-level centers such as Bryant Dunston, the all-time leading shot-blocker who didn’t play in Berlin last Thursday, Ante Zizic (6.8 points per game on 73 percent shooting on twos) and Tibor Pleiss (6.0 points per game).

HISTORY VS. EFES – Olimpia have played against Efes 37 times in the EuroLeague since 2005/06 with a record of 13-24 which includes a 1-3 loss in last season’s playoffs. There was no lack of weird and amazing moments. In the 2013/14 season, Milan won 77-73 with a sensational comeback over the last quarter, 26-11, with 22 points from Keith Langford. In the first game of the 2018/19 season, Olimpia won 81-80 with a three basically at the end made by Mike James. Two years ago, Olimpia won the first game, in Istanbul, 72-69 with 18 points by Kevin Punter, after a weird trend. A second period won 26-11 gave launched Olimpia 15 points ahead, but Efes responded with a 21-6 third period only to succumb again in the closing minutes. Last year, Olimpia won in Milan 75-71 with 16 points from Malcolm Delaney, then won again in Istanbul 83-77 with a 47-26 impressive second half. In the playoffs, Olimpia won Game 2 73-66 after losing Melli in Game 1, Delaney and Rodriguez in Game 2, with 21 points scored by Shavon Shields. In the 2013/14 season, one of the games also included Zoran Planinic’s Efes win in Istanbul thanks to a three at the end from 25 meters. The overall record is 24-14 for Efes and includes the 1996 Korac Cup.

EFES CONNECTION – Amath M’Baye played in Milan for one year, winning the Super Cup and the Italian league championships during the 2017/18 season. He also appeared in 30 EuroLeague games, 10 of them as a starter with 183 points scored. Will Clyburn played in Moscow with Kyle Hines and Johannes Voigtmann. In 2016/17, Deshaun Thomas played 30 games for Efes with 255 points scored in the EuroLeague. Thomas played with Tibor Pless in Barcelona, while Pleiss played with Kyle Hines in Bamberg. Finally, Kevin Pangos and Brandon Davies spent one year together with Vasa Micic in Kaunas. Will Clyburn at Hapoel Holon was coached by Dan Shamir.

NICOLO’ MELLI NOTES – After becoming Olimpia Milan’s all-time leading rebounder in the EuroLeague, Nicolò Melli surpassed the 2.000-point scored barrier. He is the 20th player ever to have at least 2.000 points and 1.000 total rebounds. He has also grabbed his 1.000th defensive rebound. He is the sixth player ever to reach the feat. He has 1.007 now. Ante Tomic is in fifth place with 1.025. In Istanbul, he started a EuroLeague game for the 200th time, the 12th ever to start at least 200 games. Paulius Jankunas is leading the all-time list with 283. Melli is also the 10th best rebounder all-time, three rebounds away from the ninth who is Bryant Dunston, another active player.

KYLE HINES NOTES – Kyle Hines is 20 defensive rebounds shy of 1.000 for his career. His streak of 106 consecutive games player for Olimpia is still active. He is the fourth-ever in Olimpia per EuroLeague appearances behind Kaleb Tarczewski, Nicolò Melli and Vlado Micov.

BILLY BARON NOTES – Olimpia is 10-4 when Billy Baron has scored in double digit. In Olimpia wins, Baron is averaging 14.5 points per game and is shooting 47.6 percent from three and 67.5 percent on twos.

SHAVON SHIELDS NOTES – He has been able to appear in just six games this season, including the Munich game that he had to leave early because of an injury. Olimpia has a 5-1 record in the games Shields has played.

SHABAZZ NAPIER NOTES – Over the last two games played, Napier is 10-for-14 from three-point range. Three times he has scored at least 20 points, on the road in Valencia and Istanbul-Fenerbahce, at home vs Bayern. Olimpia has won all three of these games.

STEFANO TONUT NOTES – Over his last nine EuroLeague games, he has played 20.7 minutes per game, averaging 7.0 points and 3.6 rebounds. He has been 20-for-26 from two and 7-for-14 from three.

Brandon Davies against Amath M’Baye

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