A strong start, then some interesting flashes (even up by 11), but in the final quarter Venice ran away unopposed. The match at Taliercio ended 89-76. The matchup between Croatian coaches was won by Spahija over Mrsic, who debuted with a loss. Sassari remains in the bottom group with 2 points, along with Udine, Varese, and Treviso.
Dinamo's new coach started with new additions Beliauskas and Vincini in his starting five. However, the Lithuanian player flopped (0-for-5 shooting), while the Italian big man helped in several areas.
Marshall made it 3-7 in the 4th minute, forcing Spahija to call his first timeout. If it weren't for a couple of turnovers and a couple of silly shooting errors, the score might have already been in the lead. Venice responded with a 7-7 tie, and then 12-12 in the 8th minute. Sassari conceded a few too many offensive rebounds, but Venice also made childish errors.
In the second quarter, Mezzanotte scored a three-pointer and a hook shot, but he committed two fouls in close range, prompting Seck to come in. Johnson scored two free throws to give the lead a double-digit lead for the first time: +11 at the 14th minute. The Italian-heavy starting five struggled, and Reyer scored a 10-0 run to reopen the game. Mrsic reassembled the starting five, but Venice was in a frenzy, adjusting its hand from the arc and taking the lead: 36-30 at the 18th minute. Marshall's three-pointers revived Banco, and together with Thomas, they put them back in significantly ahead in the third quarter: 46-54 at the 25th minute. However, the white-and-blue defense slumped, and Venice came closer, first tying the game and then overtaking with a basket from eight meters by Valentine: 61-59 at the 28th minute. Reyer was clearly on fire from the arc and extended the lead to 68-59. Dinamo is no longer fluid on offense, suffers too much on defense and is unable to come back and ends up at -13 at 37', despite a 20-point Thomas and a 15-point Johnson. It's over.
