By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
AS Monaco (17-10) is on a roll in the Turkish Airline EuroLeague. After a big win against Maccabi, Sasa Obradovic‘s team produced another high-level game against Panathinaikos (8-19) The home side managed to make a big push in the second half which was enough for the 84-70 win.
After this result, Monaco continues to fight for the top spots in the standings as they are now fourth with one win over fifth Fenerbahce. Panathinaikos on the other side is out of the playoff picture.
“This victory was very important for us, we have a fairly complicated month of March“, said Monaco forward Yakuba Ouattara.
Jordan Loyd and Alpha Diallo both had 18 points. Elie Okobo followed 12, and Mike James added 11.
For Panathinaikos, Mateusz Ponitka had 11 points, and Dwayne Bacon added 10.
“We won, that is what counts the most, even though sometimes you dislike the way you win, it’s a win. So no matter these conditions and understanding the opponent, who didn’t have anything to lose, they could play even more loosely. And for us, it was a must-win [game], like you could see. It is not really the way I want, but okay, hopefully, the next one is going to be different, but still with a win“, Sasa Obradovic, AS Monaco’s head coach said.
Strong start and strong finish from Monaco
Monaco came out guns blazing. Hitting shots from everywhere, Jordan Loyd was red hot leading the way to a 12-point advantage late in the second quarter (42-30). But Panathinaikos did not want to surrender. With seven three-pointers in the first half alone, they managed to cut the lead going into the break (42-36).
A good finish to the second period was a sign for the Greek team to keep on fighting and they even managed to tie up the game in the third quarter (51-51). Still, Panathinaikos was not been able to complete its comeback, missing several shots that would have given the Greens the lead.
Meanwhile, Mike James was struggling to score and even missed an uncontested layup. But, the Monaco star made that up with a stop-and-pop three-pointer in transition that gave breathing room (56-51) for another push in the fourth quarter which sealed the deal.
Panathinaikos was missing way too many open shots in the second half and entered the last period trailing by seven (64-57). On the contrary, Hall fired up the crowd with a wild two-handed slam that allowed Monaco to regain a double-digit lead (68-57) and cruised even to a 20-point advantage (82-62).
“I think that we didn’t control the game the way we wanted. We played better in the third quarter, started very well, but we didn’t play for 20 minutes the way that we planned“, Christos Serelis, Panathinaikos Athens head coach added.
It has to be noted that Greek prospect Alexandros Samontourov scored his first four EuroLeague points in this game.