By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Mike James scored a game-high 19 points, including the go-ahead basket, and AS Monaco beat Olympiacos Piraeus 64 – 60 at home to return to EuroLeague wins. Thanks to this victory, the Monegasque side swept the Reds in the regular season for a 2-0 that may be potentially decisive in the final standings.
It was a defensive-dominant battle and not really a spectacle by both Monaco and Olympiacos who combined for 34 turnovers (19 and 15) and missed many open shots to finish with 9 – 28 and 8 – 29 from the 3-point line respectively.
James (7-18 shots, seven turnovers) hit the floater for the 61 – 59 with 41 seconds remaining after a 0 – 6 run by Olympiacos. Kostas Sloukas missed a two-point jumper from the key and then Alpha Diallo went 1-2 from the line.
Monaco fouled Sloukas who made one of his free throws. Olympiacos didn’t manage to stop the clock and, on the other end, James dunked the ball to close the game.
Diallo finished with 16 points while making a key bucket from downtown for the 56 – 53. This was followed by a triple by Yoan Makoundou, a factor in basically his EuroLeague debut (he had two games with three minutes on the floor max) with nine points and six rebounds.
“It’s a 40-minute game. We didn’t start good, but we ended good,” Diallo said. “So, I’m happy with our result. I’m happy with how the guys fought tonight, and we’re glad we finished up with a win. It was an up-and-down game. I couldn’t have done it without these guys. I found a little bit of a shot today and they found me. I was just trying to repay them by making the shot.”
Alec Peters (12 points on 4-5 triples) and Sloukas (10 points, four assists) scored in double figures from an Olympiacos team that had a great start to lead 10 – 24 early in the second period but crumbled down afterward and ended up having possibly its worst performance this season. After beginning with 0-4 shots and three turnovers, James went off with 14 points in the second quarter Monaco proceeded to make a 14-0 run to take a 37 – 34 lead after halftime.
Monaco held on to a small advantage as Olympiacos tied the game multiple times but was never able to regain a lead. “Congrats to all my team, for a great performance, I would say,” Monaco coach Sasa Obradovic said. “It was like a typical playoff game, with a lot of energy and physicality. A lot of tactics also. Somehow, I’m maybe the happiest with this win, the way we played, the way we won. The situation was a bit up-and-down for us recently, but we delivered the biggest heart at this moment on the court, and that’s why we won the game, with contributions from everyone. We were really positive in every moment, like never before.”
Apart from its many turnovers and missed good looks, Olympiacos shot 12-21 free throws. The Greek squad also lacked contribution from key players such as Sasha Vezenkov, who had his lowest-scoring game this season with four points (2-7 shots, plus eight rebounds).
“It’s obvious from the free throws we missed, 9 in a tight game, and we missed a lot of layups, even a dunk right under the basket,” Olympiacos coach Giorgos Bartzokas said. “So, we should play better, finding more open looks. The defense of Monaco in the third quarter changed the game, and we turned the ball over a lot, 15 turnovers in this kind of tight game are always crucial.”