By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Mike James scored 19 points and dished out seven assists and AS Monaco beat Olimpia Milano 72 – 63 on the road to get one result away from clinching a spot in the EuroLeague playoffs. Sasa Obradovic‘s team will mathematically secure a place in the postseason in its maiden EuroLeague campaign if Anadolu Efes defeats ALBA Berlin at home Friday (1/4).
“We’ve been fighting for the playoffs for about three months,” James said. “We gotta keep the same energy. In the second half, we really picked it up and played good and came out with the win.”
Donta Hall added 16 points (on 6-6 shots) and eight rebounds while being among the key figures on both ends during a major turnaround that Monaco in the third period to transform an 11-point deficit into an eight-point advantage within seven minutes.
Milano was up 42 – 31 early in the second half but then Paris Lee (10 points), Dwayne Bacon (eight points) and Hall combined for an 0-11 run to tie the score. Hall continued doing damage and Lee closed the quarter with a basket for the 43 – 51.
Monaco didn’t allow Milano to cut that margin below five points for the rest of the game. Every time the hosts tried to recover fully, their opponents had an answer and James delivered the final blow with a tough floater for the 58-66 with 1:06 to play.
Shavon Shields (22 points) led Milano in scoring for the second straight game and was the only player on the Italian team in double figures. This loss dropped the Red Shoes to 18 – 9 and put them at a disadvantage in the battle for better positioning since both Real Madrid (18-9) and Olympiacos (18-9) have the tiebreaker over them.
“We were up 11 and in that moment we started a series of careless mistakes,” Milano coach Ettore Messina said. His squad was missing star forward Nicolo Melli due to gastroenteritis. “We completely lost ourselves and they deserved to win.”
Playoffs within reach
Monaco coach Sasa Obradovic was happy to see how the team reacted after the break and now can’t wait to see his guys’ efforts and growth getting rewarded with the coveted ticket for the playoffs.
“The defense is key,” Obradovic said. “It was really an unbelievable presentation from my team. We did a great job in defense and one more time I’m extremely happy. I don’t know if this is the final step to the playoffs but I think we definitely deserve it.”
“We are learning from each game,” Obradovic later added when asked what has changed in the confidence of his team, particularly when it comes to closing games. “There are plenty of players [on the team] who didn’t have EuroLeague experience. In the third quarter, we came out of the locker room and knew what we had to do. We just didn’t do it on a consistent level, I would say. It’s more or less my trademark to have a good defensive team. I think with this kind of attitude you can play against. It’s good that all the guys understand it and we are on the same page.”
Photo: EuroLeague Basketball