By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Mike James scored 20 points in the go-ahead basket with 55 seconds on the clock.
It was enough as Monaco got the 85-84 win over Barcelona in Game 5 of the playoffs and will face Olympiacos in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four semifinal.
The key to the win was Giorgos Papagiannis, who scored 17 points in 19 minutes of action plus five rebounds. Matthew Strazel and Alpha Diallo added 11 points each for the winning side.
Papagiannis, who had in total 4/5 two-pointers and 3/3 threes after staying out of the rotation for the previous game, said after the final buzzer: “I was staying ready for the whole series. I was a professional, everybody helped me out. I was just waiting for my moment to come, and I am really happy that I made it to the second final four in a row”.
The Greek center competed in the Final Four last year as a member of Fenerbahce.
Kevin Punter scored 19 points for Barcelona, Justin Anderson and Willy Hernangomez added 16 points each, and Youssoupha Fall scored 10
A real thriller
It was a balanced game from start to finish, with Barcelona leading 19-15 after the first period and Monaco getting a six-point advantage (45-39) at the end of the first half after a three by Mike James.
The hosts led by 10 (49-39); however, entering the last period, Monaco led by three (65-62), and with five minutes on the clock, Barcelona was up by one (77-76) after a three by Jabari Parker.
Monaco’s was a three by Giorgos Papagiannis (79-77), his third three in the game, and the contest transformed into a dogfight.
Barcelona trimmed the lead to one (79-78), and Papagiannis, entering the last three minutes, scored again (81-78).
Parker made it again a one-point game (81-80) after the first missed three of Justin Anterson in the game, who already had 16 points.
Monaco called a timeout, Matthew Strazel missed, and Kevin Punter gave Barcelona a one-point lead (82-81). Strazel redeemed himself but scoring in the next play (83-82), Punter from the free throws line put Barcelona up again (84-83).
With the game on the line, entering the last minute, James scored again (85-84), and Anderson missed. Papagiannis did the same, Punter had one last chance, and also missed.
Photo credit: EuroLeague