By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Mike James returned to EuroLeague action with a dunk as his first bucket and Monaco celebrated its first-ever game in the competition with a convincing 75-63 win over Panathinaikos.
James finished the night with 11 points and four assists, Danilo Adjusic was the top scorer with 17 points, while Monaco got a 22-15 lead in the first quarter and set the tone early.
“We got a nice win over a big team and, you know, it’s always good to start off the season with a win”, said James. “We played well today, everybody can share the ball and it was a great team effort. That was a good win to have.”
Monaco led by 13 in the second quarter (30-17), by 17 in the third quarter (56-39), and by 22 in the fourth (73-51). Donta Hall, Donatas Motiejunas, and Paris Lee also did their part with 10 points each.
As Monaco’s coach Zvezdan Mitrovic said: “My players played very smart, my staff did a great job analyzing Panathinaikos, especially on defense, even though we had not much time to prepare for the game. Maybe I feel surprised by how we won the game. I wouldn’t say easily, but this way.”
The hosts missed one of the key members, Rob Grey, due to injury. However, Panathinaikos couldn’t get any advantage from this absence.
Ioannis Papapetrou with 16 points was the only bright spot for Panathinaikos. “Last year we won the first away game and finished 16th in the standings”, he said after the game. “It is a long way, we must use this defeat for good. We are a new team. Nothing is an excuse. Many kids are competing in the EuroLeague for the first time and they want to prove things from the first moment. But, you cannot conquer everything from day 1. It is a marathon; we must use the game and turn it for the best. We are not happy, it was not a good day. I believe in the team very much, if I did not believe in it I would not be here. I believe that this team can be competitive in any game. Today we had a bad result.”
Daryl Macon also had 13 points, but thanks to two threes in the closing minutes when the game was already decided.
The lack of playmaking for Panathinaikos was more than obvious. The Greeks made eight turnovers and dished seven assists.
Photo credit: EuroLeague