For Olimpia, the victory at the Forum over Brescia is not enough to secure first place in the regular season, a position that gives them home advantage in the hypothetical championship final: Milan holds the top together with Virtus Bologna, the record (thanks to the advantage in head-to-head matches ) however, it’s one of the games that goes against Tortona and next week they will host Trento at home to secure first place. Captain Melli starts right from here, from a resounding victory which however does not open the doors of paradise to the Messina quintet who put hay in the farm with the fifteenth victory in the last seventeen Serie A matches: «We did well against a top-level opponent, it was important to win, we found fluidity in attack and now against Cremona we have to consolidate at least second place.”
After a tearful match, Milan started with the fuse lit, 8 triples in the first 8 attempts put them ahead, with Messina giving rest to Poytress and giving minutes to Caruso. Brescia gets back on track thanks to Bilan and Massinburg, while Milan shoots from the arc: nine posts before Napier’s three baskets from the arc that bring them back ahead. In the last quarter the defenses leveled up, but Olimpia kept their hands on the handlebars, accelerated and stopped Brescia who slipped from the top after four months. For Olimpia (43% from the arc) 16 points from Shields, 17 from Napier and 11 from Melli, for Germani instead 18 from Bilan and 13 from Massinburg.
Shengelia (15), Zizic (13) and Hackett (11) push Virtus to victory at Tortona (13 by the former Weems, 12 by Obasohan and Thomas): painless defeat because the playoffs are won thanks to the defeat of Napoli, in the next round the Piedmontese on stage on the Treviso parquet are still unable to save despite the victory in Masnago against Varese who, despite being beaten, celebrate their salvation. Also officially in the playoffs are Reggio Emilia and Pistoia which overwhelms Trento, already qualified, at home. Pesaro is still clinging to safety, in the next round they will be in Venice while, after twelve years in Serie A, they say goodbye to the Brindisi company who beat Venice. A bitter farewell for the Southern star.
Results (twenty-ninth day):
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan-Germani Brescia 83-77
Bertram Derthona Tortona-Virtus Segafredo Bologna 77-84
Unahotels Reggio Emilia-Gevi Naples 88-74
Carpegna Prosciutto Pesaro-Vanoli Cremona 91-86
Happy Casa Brindisi-Umana Reyer Venice 84-80
Openjobmetis Varese-Nutribullet Treviso 95-100
Dolomiti Energia Trentino-Estra Pistoia 80-105
Givova Scafati-Banco Sardegna Sassari 74-99
Classification:
Virtus Segafredo Bologna, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 42; Germani Brescia 40; Umana Reyer Venice 36; Unahotels Reggio Emilia 32; Dolomiti Energia Trentino, Estra Pistoia 30; Bertram Derthona Tortona 28; GeVI Napoli Basket Naples, Banco di Sardegna Sassari 26; Givova Scafati, Vanoli Cremona 24; Openjobmetis Varese, Nutribullet Treviso 22; Carpegna Prosciutto Pesaro, Happy Casa Brindisi 20.
