It is not that he scored 22 points in 19 minutes because he dealt with foul trouble all night long. It is not that they are his season-high and Johannes Voigtmann didn’t miss a three, finishing with 5-for-5. It is way more important that he led the team right from tip-off, scoring 11 points in the first three minutes, going 3-for-3 from three and adding one close-range field goal. Nicolò Melli added a dunk, Shabazz Napier a three and all of a sudden, Olimpia led 16-5, Coach Piero Bucchi spent his first time-out, but the deficit proved to be definitive. Olimpia defeated Sassari in Game 1 of its best-of-five semifinal, 95-72, led by as many as 33 points in the fourth quarter and was never threatened by one of the hottest team in the league, coming off beating Reyer Venezia 3-1 convincingly. “The first quarter we played well defensively and even better offensively, we moved the ball and shot with high percentage. I like that we kept pushing for the entire quarters at least,” Coach Ettore Messina pointed out at the end.

Voigtmann scored 22 points, three more players scored 10 points and other three had nine points. Napier finished with seven but added nine assists. Olimpia finished the night with 24 assists and 10 turnovers, won the rebounding battle and made 16 threes. “Game 2 will be different – Messina predicts – Last season we had a solid Game 1, but Sassari came back and made us struggle to prevail in Game 2. I hope we will have the same intensity, if not the same shooting night.” However, Olimpia can still improve. “Generally, we might have more physicality, and Melli in this regard has been crucial so far in the playoffs, but there were some situations when they exploited the mismatches against Napier and Kevin Pangos. The result is that we needed to expose ourselves a little too much and, in the end, we allowed some dunks. So, we need to prepare ourselves better in pick and roll defense before Game 2,” Messina added.

The night was plagued by Paul Biligha late game injury. He broke a tooth and hurt his shoulder painfully. He had to leave the game, will be re-evaluated before Game 2 but his presence on Monday night won’t be possible. Shavon Shield left the court early in the third. He felt a pain in the knee area, the game was safe, and he didn’t return. “These are reasons to be a little worry,” Messina said. Game 2 in on Monday night in Milan.