By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Monaco at home is one of the best EuroLeague teams and that can’t be said about Milan on the road. That’s why the final 93-80 in favor of the hosts is almost flattering for the Italians, considering that Milan was trailing by more than 20 points at halftime.
Alpha Diallo with 20 points and a key three down the stretch was the top scorer of the winning side, Elie Okobo had 14, and the trio of Furkan Korkmaz, Mem Jaiteh, and Matthew Strazel added 10 points each.
Mike James with nine points and five assists didn’t have to do much more and the absence of injured Nick Calathes went almost unnoticed.
Newcomer Armoni Brooks with 16 points was the top scorer of the losing side, Neno Dimitrijevic and Zach LeDay added 11 points, while Nikola Mirotic added nine points on 2/5 threes, not being able to get the ball as much as he would want.
Plus Monaco dominated the boards with a huge 36 to 23 advantage.
Leading from wire to wire
Monaco started the game being furious on both ends, leading 22-10 after the first quarter and by 20 points (38-18) with less than four minutes before the end of the first half.
The two teams went to the locker rooms with the hosts having a 21-point advantage (47-26) as 10 players of Monaco had already scored, none of them more than nine points.
The guests started trimming the lead, first to 17 points at the end of the third (66-49), and with Monaco being too relaxed then even to nine (77-68) with four minutes left in the game.
The answer was a three by Diallo (80-68) and order was restored.