Milano struggled to defeat Napoli and somewhat avenged their heavy loss in the Italian Cup final last month.
The defending champions started the match very well, imposing their rhythm and quickly taking a 14-6 lead. However, Napoli rallied and made a comeback towards the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Igor Milicic’s team began to trouble Milano significantly. They had several runs that brought them back into the game, and at halftime in the Mediolanum Forum, the score was 43-42 in favor of Milan.
Then what was supposed to happen in the second quarter finally occurred. Napoli took the lead, and they entered the final quarter with a four-point advantage.
In the last quarter, we saw a nearly identical scenario to the Italian Cup final. Milano had everything in their hands, but Napoli didn’t give up easily. In the end, they didn’t have enough strength to surprise Milan again.
Nikola Mirotic was the standout performer for Milano, scoring 21 points. Nicolo Melli contributed 19 points along with 12 rebounds. Shavon Shields added 18 points, while Jacob Pullen matched Mirotic’s performance with 21 points, closely followed by Tyler Ennis with 19 points.
In other Serie A games, Cremona surprised Venice with a 92:90 victory. Tortona defeated Varese 90:83. Reggio Emilia won against Pesaro on the road with a score of 87:69, and Brindisi beat Scafati 84:76.