By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Monaco was playing without the injured duo of Furkan Korkmaz and Nick Calathes, losing a lot of firepower on paper.
Still, the hosts got the 85-79 win with the duo of Mike James (17 p.) and Elie Okobo (17 p.) leading the charge against one of their old teammates.
“It’s a great way for us to start the season and we hope the get healthy soon”, James said after the game.
As for Okobo, he scored all his 17 points in the second half on 7/11 FG.
Jordan Loyd with 16 points tried his best for Maccabi, Jaylen Hoard added 13 and Jasiel Rivero had 13.
Still, Monaco proved to be a deep team, with the center duo of Donatas Motiejunas (11 p.) and Giorgos Papagiannis (10 p.) also scoring in double digits.
A fight until the end
After a balanced first half which ended with Maccabi up by two (23-21), the Israelis created a distance thanks to a three by Romain Sorkin, which ended up creating a five-point play. As the shot got in, Okobo fouled John DiBartolomeo, Maccabi got the possession again and Rokas Jokubaitis scored again (28-21).
That was the start of a 10-2 run (33-23) that gave the guests a double-digit lead for the first time. James answered with a three (33-26) but the first half ended with Maccabi up by five (46-41) with Loyd having 10 points and James 13 already.
Things changed, however, in the third period. Monaco took back the lead (53-52) and completed a 15-2 run for a six-point advantage (60-54). At the end of the period, Monaco was up by five (65-60) after a three by Okobo.
The battle continued and entered the last four minutes with Maccabi trailing by three points (74-71). Still, Monaco kept their distance until the end and won.
Photo credit: EuroLeague