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With the home-court advantage on the line, Mike James had 20 points and seven assists, leading Monaco to the 83-78 road win over LDLC ASVEL.
Thanks to this result and with a 21-13 record, Monaco finished fourth in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings and got the home-court advantage in the playoffs.
Jordan Loyd added 16 points, Mem Jaiteh had 13, and Alpha Diallo added 11 in a game that wasn’t easy at all.
Playing just for pride, Neal Sako had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Andre Robderson also had a double-double (14 p. 12 r.), and Theo Maledon scored 18 points, fighting until the closing seconds.
“We had to come out to secure home-court. Four seasons in the EuroLeague, four Playoffs. It’s something to be proud of,” Mike James said.
Decided on the last seconds
Monaco demonstrated in defense their determination to win the game, leading 22-15 after the first period and creating a 13-point lead (29-16) at the start of the second with Loyd already scoring 10 points.
Still, ASVEL managed to trim the lead to six (33-27) thanks to their defensive effort, and the halftime score was 41-35 in favor of Monaco.
The dogfight continued, and ASVEL tied the score at 53 after a shot by Sako, which completed an 8-0 run, with Maledon scoring six of those points.
The hosts even took the 57-55 lead after two free throws by Nando De Colo before all being tied at 57 at the end of the third quarter thanks to Alpha Diallo.
The game remained tied at 74 with 1.40 left on the clock, but in the next possession, James was fouled on a three-pointer attempt and made three free throws (77-74).
ASVEL couldn’t tie the score again as the guests got what they wanted by closing the game the right way.
Photo credit: EuroLeague