By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Paris Lee with a big three after a crucial shot of Mike James gave an 83-78 lead to Monaco which proved to be enough for the 88-80 overtime road win against UNICS Kazan which dropped to 0-2.
Lee finished the game with 12 points and 3/3 threes, while James added 14 points and Donta Hall scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the winning side.
“We won, and that is what we wanted to do. Getting a win on the road in the EuroLeague is always tough, so I am happy that we could do it, really”, said James. “Defense. We started buckling down and sharing the ball, too, getting better shots, better looks. Basically, we starting getting stops and sharing the ball. We played together, as a team; it creates nice energy and that leads to good things.”
After a hard-fought game, Monaco had the chance to win the game in regulation, but James made one and missed one key free throw, tying the score at 76. Ultimately, Monaco got the job done for a 2-0 start in the season.
As coach Zvezdan Mitrovic said after the game: “We just had to work for 45 minutes but in the end, it worked. It was a tough game, like you saw, with overtime. We had some good and bad moments, like UNICS, too, but I am happy. For us, it is a very, very important victory. We changed some things on defense, maybe did some new things on offense, but everything is going more like a routine: let’s go and play, and try to win.”
UNICS got a 58-50 lead at the end of the third period, but couldn’t do much more. Mario Hezonja scored 17 points for the losing side, while OJ Mayo was present in the gym but not active.
“It was a game in which we had great expectations to win it. I think that in the last 2 or 3 minutes, they made a run and that was the key of the game”, admitted UNICS coach Velimir Perasovic.