Italian Lega A season tipped off with AX Armani Exchange Milan (1-0) beating Basket Napoli (0-1) 73-63 (21-18, 21-13, 18-13, 13-19).
Milan jumped out to a 14-4 lead at the start of the game, but Napoli went on a run of their own and closed the gap to three points with the first quarter concluded.
However, they were no match for Milan in the second period, going down by single digits and dealing with an 11-point deficit at halftime (42-31).
Milan continued extending their advantage in the second half. They were up by 19 at one point in the fourth period. Napoli cut their deficit to single digits at the end of the game, but it was too little too late as Milan walked away with a 10-point victory.
Milan: Shavon Shield 13 (6 AST), Luigi Datome 13, Konstantinos Mitoglou 10 (10 REB), Nicolo Melli 10, Malcolm Delaney 8, Davon Hall 7, Kaleb Tarczewsky 6, Jerian Grant 3, Giampaolo Ricci 3.
Napoli: Jordan Parks 17 (9 REB), Arnas Velicka 12 (6 REB), Josh Mayo 10, Pierpaolo Marini 10.
