It wasn't the expected high-scoring game between the EuroLeague's two most prolific teams, but it was a battle that could have gone either way. The final bullfight awarded Bayern 79-78. A rebound foul sent Weiler-Babb to the line. His 1/2 gave Bayern the lead, but Olimpia the final possession. Unfortunately, Shields' half-hook was bounced off the rim. Olimpia chased Bayern for the entire first half, then in the second half it was a melee. Both teams in turn gave the feeling of being able to win, Olimpia seemed to have dealt the decisive blow when they jumped to plus five with two minutes to play. But she was unable to raise the defensive wall, in fact she also conceded an easy basket on the counterattack to Bayern, immediately losing possession of the match. Then she could have won it anyway but she wasn't lucky. A defeat made even more painful by Josh Nebo's exit due to injury to the same arm from which he had just recovered.
THE FIRST HALF – Olimpia starts off slow, both in attack where it generates turnovers and shooting errors and in defence. Devin Booker uses all his energy, speed in running the court to score six quick points so after five minutes, in which all that comes is a triple from LeDay, a basket from underneath by Shields and a free throw from Mannion, Olimpia slips behind 14-6. The first time-out and three substitutions produce nothing, Bayern are in rhythm, when they move the ball and run they have offensive potential which they manage to unload on the parquet and determine the 24-6 in the eighth minute, which forces Coach Messina to stop the game again. This is where Olimpia picks up the tone a bit on both sides of the pitch. In the last two minutes of the opening quarter he scored eight points, five of which were from Zach LeDay and reduced the gap to 12 points, 26-14. In the second period, Olimpia tries to extend the good momentum. The first to dictate the pace is Neno Dimitrijevic. Three times, the gap was closed from 12 to five points, thanks to two consecutive triples by Fabien Causeur and then a jumper by Dimitrijevic. Bayern responded every time, rebuilding a nine-point lead, but Olimpia found a better rhythm on both sides of the pitch. Mirotic works in the low post, earns free throws. With 3:28 left, he restored parity for the first time at 35 with three consecutive trips to the line. Bayern restarts with a triple from top scorer Edwards. Olimpia works with Josh Nebo near the basket, but without ever managing to overcome. At the end of the first half it's 40-39 Bayern.
THE SECOND HALF – Olimpia immediately manages to put its head forward. With a dunk from Nebo and a layup from Causeur he goes up to three. But the race remains in the balance. Booker with his inside-outside game is a very complicated puzzle. His personal 4-0 gave Bayern the lead again. Mirotic responds with a triple in an authentic back-and-forth. Olimpia makes an impact with Dimitirjevic, overtaking with a triple from Shields. Edwards makes it 5-0 with one entry and a triple, which is still worth a four point margin for his team. Milan remains glued, even forcing Booker's third foul, but here it is Edwards who takes the team on his shoulders. Yebo with four free throws in a row supports Bayern's second quintet that manages to gain another significant margin, six points, at the end of the third quarter, 65-59. In the fourth period, Mirotic produced four consecutive points, with an attacking rebound and then with a fadeaway taking advantage of the height advantage over Napier, closing the score to within two, with four fouls on his shoulders. Nebo's rebound impacts the game, Armoni Brooks with a triple puts Milan ahead 68-65. Bayern turns it around again, with Voigtmann and Booker. Olimpia manages to defend strongly for a few possessions. Two triples in a row, Causeur and LeDay from the corner push it to plus five. Edwards all by himself also erases this advantage. At 46 seconds he puts Bayern ahead. Causeur equalizes with an incredible entry. With 11 seconds left, Weiler-Babb scores the plus one. Olimpia goes down to win the game: on the pick and roll in transition Shields-Mirotic, the latter goes to the ground, the former attacks the area and uses his half-hook. The iron mocks him and Bayern wins 79-78.
This is how Coach Ettore Messina commented on the match against Bayern Munich: “It was a tough defeat. Congratulations to Bayern because it looked like they had lost it when we went plus five with two minutes to go, but they continued to play while we made some mistakes in attack and defense that cost us the game. A tough race, as we saw, also because Josh Nebo got hurt again. In the next few days we will know what it is. We had another negative start, even with a different quintet. When we start well we do it because we defend and move the ball into attack rather than taking the first available shot. We didn't do that today. Despite this we had a five point lead with two minutes to go. We had a non-existent defensive rotation, we lost two balls, we conceded an attacking rebound on the decisive possession. These are mistakes you pay for. The defense? Obviously Booker played a great game, but I think Voigtmann's readings were decisive, I remember many situations in which he was decisive.”
