Gradually, Olimpia responded to a slow start, came back and took the lead at the end of the first half and built its game in the second half on its way to a commanding 83-68 win in Trento. Now, Olimpia leads the best of five series 2-1 and has a chance to close it out on Sunday, on the road. “We started the game a little shy and Mirotic helped us to stay in the game. With no Shavon Shields and more changes we had to find our rhythm back, our rotation,” Coach Ettore Messina said. But over time Olimpia played brilliantly, at both ends of the floor. “Offensively we moved the ball well and from time to time a lot of guys gave us some lift, Napier for sure, Melli in the second half, Kyle Hines at the start. Finally, Johannes Voigtmann threes, back-to-back, tore the game apart,” he added.

Mirotic scored Olimpia first seven points, the Kyle Hines approached the game grabbing two consecutive offensive rebounds and converting both of them. He set a different tone for the rest of the game, he changed momentum. He was one of five players scoring in double figure. Two who didn’t, Devon Hall and Stefano Tonut, had sensational games in terms of effort and defense and intensity. Olimpia attempted to get away in the third quarter. Somehow, Trento responded two or three times, but after Voigtmann,’s threes, Shabazz Napier with a four-point play killed the game, right before exiting the floor for a big hit at the left cheek that swallowed dangerously. He finished with a game-high 20 points. He added seven assists. Voigtmann was also the team’s leading rebounder with nine in 19 minutes on the floor. Olimpia won the rebounding battle 33 to 23.

But the big difference was defense. Olimpia allowed Trento to score 85 points in Game 1 and 93 in Game 2. This time, they had to settle for 68, 30 in the second half. Prentiss Hubb and Kamar Baldwin who combined for 44 points in Game 2, finished the night with 23. Prentiss Hubb had four threes in the first half when he definitely led Trento, but was scoreless in the second. They shot 9-for-24 from the field and never got to the line. In terms of defensive efficiency, Olimpia was huge.