Milan, 12 May 2024 – After the blow scored against Taliercio by Reggio Emilia on the debut day of the basketball playoff quarterfinals, another surprise result occurred today at the Assago Forum where EA7 Emporio Armani Milano was defeated in a sprint 85-84 by Dolomiti Energia Trento: it was decisive an acrobatic, buzzer-beating basket by Kamar Baldwin, who finished with 17 points, 6 assists and as many fouls suffered for an overall rating of 20. Better than him, in the Juventus home, he only made a towering appearance Derek Cooke, who finished the game with 20 points combined with 8 rebounds, while the Hubb-Forray duo brought home 10 points each and the newly arrived Daulton Hommes with 5 points and 6 rebounds in 23 minutes played. However, the EA7 were not enough 27 points and 8 rebounds from former player Shavon Shields, Shabazz Napier’s 14 and Nikola Mirotic’s 13. Things seemed to have gone downhill for Olimpia, capable of closing the first quarter at +11 (32-21). However, Cooke’s plays soon put Trento back on track, capable of closing the first half in a draw (43-43) and starting a very long head-to-head match that was only resolved in the final minutes: protagonist once again it was Derek Cooke, who first inspired yet another tie at 80 and then the overtaking with a three-point play (80-83). On the other side, Milan responded with points from Mirotic and Shields for the counter-overtaking, but Baldwin took care of putting the exclamation point on the match with the acrobatic shot that sealed the final 85-84 for Trentino. In the second race of the day, however, Germani Brescia won 79-70 against the never-tamed Estra Pistoia at the end of a match with two faces: the blue and whites dominated the first part of the match closing the opening quarter ahead 23-12 and then giving another powerful push in the second half with a 10-0 break worth +21even became +23 before the break (48-28 at 20′). In the third half, however, the music changed, because suddenly Pistoia regained strength and, in the presence of a Brescia that was inexplicably paralyzed in attack, began a slow but inexorable recovery which culminated in the 63-63 triple scored by Moore. However, the red and whites lacked the ability to attack and Brescia took advantage of this by finding the key to the problem thanks to the work under the attacking boards by Miro Bilan and the triples by CJ Massimburg: the Croatian center closed the match with an overflowing double double (19 points and 18 rebounds captured, of which 7 offensive), while the American brought home a personal haul of 13 points with a remarkable 3/6 in three-point shooting. On the Estra Pistoia front, who were able to get back on their feet after a decidedly subdued first half especially in outside shooting, Jordon Varnado’s 16 points and 15 each from Peyton Willis and Charlie Moore were not enough.
