Βy Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Wade Baldwin was everywhere on the floor with 20 points, six assists and six rebounds as Maccabi Tel Aviv beat AS Monaco 79 – 67 on the road to take a 1-0 lead in the first of the four EuroLeague quarterfinal series and basically claim homecourt advantage from their opponents.
“It is good to take the first game, but this is a well-polished team,” Baldwin said. “They went to Game 5 last year against Olympiacos and it is [just] one game. We have another one on Thursday that we have to take care of. We have to prepare for [it] and continue to fight.”
Maccabi led for the entire game after the first nine minutes and had a particularly strong second half to establish its superiority. With the score 36-38, the Yellows made a 1-11 run to go up by double figures and then closed the third period ahead 50 – 60.
Monaco, that struggled immensely to make 3-pointers (4-26 in total), couldn’t match Maccabi’s physicality, especially on the defensive end. The hosts fell behind even 50-66 but showed some glimpses of spark with a 7-0 run. The answer by the Yellows arrived with six unanswered points that helped them re-establish a double-digit advantage and preserve it.
Alpha Diallo (15 points, six assists, four rebounds) and Mike James (15 points, six rebounds, five assists) stood out from a Monaco team that will now have to win at least one game in the quite unfriendly atmosphere of Menora Mivtachim arena to bring the series back home.
Apart from Baldwin, Lorenzo Brown scored 15 and had four assists while Josh Nebo provided 12 points plus eight rebounds.
“We have to put this behind us – it’s the playoffs,” Monaco coach Sasa Obradovic mentioned. “We didn’t play good. We were too nervous to play on a high level. We have to forget it, learn from this and go for the next one. There are still a lot of games to play.”
Fighting fire with fire
Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Oded Kattash appreciated how his players responded to Monaco’s tough defensive approach with the same currency.
“As you saw, it was a really intense and aggressive game, so obviously I am very proud of our players,” Kattash said. “The way we approached this game, I can say we matched their aggressiveness, controlled the defensive rebounds, which is the main goal for us: to stop their running game. Even though we struggled sometimes against their defense, which was very aggressive, we won the game through defense, obviously, so I am very happy. That’s about it. We have [an advantage of] 1-0, but as you saw, it is going to be a battle all the way until the end. It is not going to be easy in two days.”
In the post-game flash interview, Kattash had mentioned the following: “I am very proud of the guys,” he said. “We did a very good job, especially defensively. We knew it was going to be a battle. We kept them only to 6 offensive rebounds. We controlled their running game. We put a lot of effort. I am really proud of the guys, but it is only the first one. Any game is really important. You saw the game – it is going to be a fight all the way until the end. It is not going to be easy.”