By Antonis Stroggylakis / astroggylakis@eurohoops.net
ABU DHABI (UAE) – Vassilis Spanoulis was one of the biggest winners in European basketball history, and he continues his legacy as a coach.
With Alpha Diallo scoring 22 points and Mike James adding a masterclass with 17 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and three steals, Monaco made history with a 78-68 win in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague semifinals.
Mam Jaiteh also scored 11 crucial points, giving an extra push to Monaco in the fourth period.
Olympiacos collapsed despite 31 points by Evan Fournier.
Nigel Williams-Goss added 12 points, and Sasha Vezenkov had just seven points on 2/9 FG, while no other player scored in double digits.
The Greeks had 14 turnovers and 10 assists, as Monaco’s defense decided the outcome of the contest.
Once more, the “curse” of finishing on top of the regular season standings will not break, as Olympiacos will have to fight against Panathinaikos in the 3rd place game, and Monaco will face Fenerbahce BEKO in the final.
A balanced first half
The first half was more than close with Olympiacos leading 15-11, the first quarter ending tied at 17, and Monaco getting a five-point advantage (31-26) with the halftime score being 35-32.
Mike James closed the first half with 13 points and Alpha Diallo added 10, while no player of Olympiacos had scored in double digits.
Jaron Blossomgame extended Monaco’s lead to 45-38 starting the second half, and with his first three of the game pushed the advantage to 13 points (55-42) after a 10-2 run.
That was the cue for Fournier to take over the game and close the gap to four points (55-51), and Monaco entered the last period leading by six (57-51).
The final blow
The last period started with five unanswered points by Mam Jaiteh, pushing the lead to 11 points (62-51), and that was the start of a 7-0 run, with Monaco building a 64-51 advantage.
Olympiacos was totally out of synch on both sides of the floor, and the best the Reds could do was to trim the lead to seven points (72-65).