Milan proves that it has definitively overcome the shock of the Italian Cup and starts the second round of the Top 16 as best it could, beating the six-time European champions Panathinaikos 77-75, making up for the heavy 73-57 suffered in the first leg at Athens.
Another great European evening at the Forum, once again packed with more than 10 fans, including Nando Gentile, star of Milan's latest triumphs (in the now distant 1995-96 season) and who moved to Panathinaikos in 1998, where three years he won three championships and the 2000 Champions Cup. Alessandro's father, today's captain, was honored with the honor of joining the Olimpia Hall of Fame, and was honored before the match in in the middle of the field, squeezed between his two sons (in addition to Alessandro, Stefano, a play from Cantù, was also present). Party at the beginning and party at the end too, but in the middle a lot of suffering and fear of not completing a feat that at half-time seemed already in hand.
In fact, EA7 played an amazing first half, shooting 8/11 from three, forcing the Greeks into 9 turnovers with a suffocating defense and sending their leader (and twice MVP) Diamantidis over the top. Banchi's boys, with a triple from Gentile, also reach a maximum lead of 18 points and among the creators there is also Bruno Cerella, who started as a backup but has now become an authentic idol of the house, and also applauded by his great friend Rodrigo Palacio, often present in the stands of the Forum. The Argentine has never lacked commitment and defense, but now he also gets important baskets, so as to earn him more and more minutes in rotations, even in important matches such as those of the Euroleague.
After the first two quarters the score is 41-26 and many are looking forward to a triumphal match-style ride with Olympiakos, but when Panathinaikos returns to the court, although they are not the unbeatable squad of a few years ago, they remember their strength and show all his experience, starting to recover point after point, thanks above all to Gist and the surprise Wright. However, the Greeks were repelled by a wild Samardo Samuels, the Jamaican centre, already a protagonist at the start of the game, who with his dunks allowed Milan to reach the last ten minutes with a solid 10-point lead. Olimpia, as has already happened in other Euroleague matches, however enters the last quarter a little short of energy and the guests, with the contribution of the highly whistled ex Fotsis, understand the moment and in an instant they go up to -3 with still more than 4 minutes on the clock. From there to the end it's a continuous question and answer and even when Milan manages to put back a certain safety distance and it seems done, some ingenuity and too many missed free throws incredibly allow the Greeks to make up for it under -2 with the ball in hand, 3 seconds from the siren. At that point Adriano Galliani (framed a few minutes earlier in the Perugia-Milan style of '99) and the other ten thousand of the Forum see the ghosts, but Pana is unable to build a shot in good time and for Hackett (in the shadow) and his companions comes the fifth victory out of eight meetings.
The hero of the evening, as mentioned, is Samuels, who finishes with 16 points and a fearsome rage in his body (as well as a questionable red hair color), in addition to the usual Langford and Jerrells (18 and 10 points respectively). The 16 points difference in the first leg as predictable have not been overturned, but it doesn't matter, EA7, even if it still has to work a lot to stay at these levels, has shown that it has canceled the gap compared to two months ago and has learned to win even by suffering.
And at the moment it puts itself in second place in the group, behind Barcelona (who beat Efes in overtime in Turkey and already has one foot in the playoffs), just pulling away from Pana and waiting for what the Olympiakos, busy on the difficult field of Fenerbahce. Olympiakos who will be EA7's next opponent in the next round, with the Greeks wanting to take revenge at home for the beating suffered in the first leg, but at this point Milan can look to these last six games with great confidence and the Final Four, officially presented at the press conference just before yesterday's challenge, they appear a little less a dream and a little more real.
