AS Monaco has made it to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs for the second time in as many seasons. Monaco became the fourth team to clinch a playoff spot by downing Valencia Basket 90-79 at home in Round 30. The French side now has a 20-10 record and, as a result of its playoff berth, only the 2022-23 7DAYS EuroCup champion will gain access to the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
If Virtus Segafredo Bologna doesn't make it to the playoffs, Monaco, will automatically have a guaranteed spot in the 2023-24 EuroLeague. If both Virtus and Monaco make the playoffs, however, the team ranking higher at the end of the season will get that spot. Monaco is now focused on gaining home-court advantage in order to increase its chances of making it to the Final Four for the first time in the club's history.
Road to playoffs
Monaco had a really strong start of the season, winning four of its five games in October. It registered road victories against Virtus (66-83), Panathinaikos Athens (80-83) and Olympiacos Piraeus (76-81), which allowed Mike James to be chosen as the EuroLeague MVP for October. Monaco remained solid at Salle Gaston Medecin, and it got two prestigious road victories in the French derby against LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne (75-84) and in overtime against Real Madrid (94-95) to improve to 9-3 in the standings. Coach Sasa Obradovic's team went through a quieter period but managed to get three narrow home victories in the next eight games to keep its playoff hopes alive. Power forward Chima Moneke joined the team midway through the season, replacing Adrien Moerman and providing Monaco with an extra boost at the 4.
Monaco got on the right track with back-to-back high-scoring victories against EA7 Emporio Armani Milan (101-88) and ALBA Berlin (84-102), with Donatas Motiejunas taking center stage in the German capital with 22 points and a PIR of 25. Its last loss came in Round 25 against FC Barcelona at Palau Blaugrana, 80-70. Monaco has since gone on a five-game winning streak, getting quality victories even in the absence of James. Monaco beat Baskonia 93-102 at Buesa Arena behind 19 points from Jordan Loyd, before downing Virtus 81-68 in Round 29 in a critical battle to stay in the EuroLeague next season. Elie Okobo led the way with 21 points. That triumph also saw Monaco secure the tiebreaker over Virtus.
Playoff experience
Monaco took part in its first-ever playoff series last season, losing against Olympiacos in an epic five-game series that went down to the final minutes. James, Motiejunas, Yakuba Ouattara, Alpha Diallo and Donta Hall were all with the team in that series, as was Coach Obradovic. As for the rest of the team, Jordan Loyd is going to the playoffs for the first time with his fourth team in the competition. Elie Okobo and Matthew Strazel did not have the chance to be in the playoffs with ASVEL, nor did John Brown with UNICS Kazan. China Moneke and Jaron Blossomgame are in their first EuroLeague seasons. James is the only Monaco player to have won a playoff series, as he advanced with Baskonia after beating Panathinaikos in 2016. Apart from last season's exit with Monaco, James lost two other playoff series, both of which came with Panathinaikos: against Fenerbahce in 2017 and Real in 2018.
Playoff history
Monaco made its EuroLeague debut last season and went all the way to the playoffs. Olympiacos had home-court advantage and took Game 1, 71-54. But, Roca Team bounced back in Game 2, thrashing Olympiacos 72-96 behind 23 points from James. In Game 3, Paris Lee hit a three-pointer for an 80-79 Monaco lead in the penultimate minute of the game, yet Thomas Walkup, Sasha Vezenkov and Kostas Sloukas sealed the outcome from the foul line, leading the Reds to a 83-87 lead.
Two-time NBA champion Kevin Durant traveled to Monaco for Game 4 and definitely enjoyed the experience, so much so that he changed his plans and attended Game 5 in Piraeus, Greece, too. Monaco took Game 4, 78-77, on a go-ahead basket by Dwyane Bacon and a missed shot at the buzzer by Kostas Sloukas. The Reds prevailed in Game 5, 94-88, in an outstanding atmosphere at Peace and Friendship Stadium in what was arguably one of the best games in EuroLeague history. James had 24 points and 10 assists, but he could not prevent Monaco from being eliminated.