The Frenchman came up big for his team in just his second appearance back.
Elie Okobo gave Monaco a much-needed spark at Efes
AS Monaco snapped a three-game road winning streak in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague campaign by edging Anadolu Efes Istanbul 78-80 in Round 23 to improve to 13-10 in the standings.
It was not easy, as Efes was ahead for most of the third quarter. It used a 14-0 run to build its biggest lead of the night, 47-39, right after the break. When Elie Okobo returned to the floor midway through the third quarter, Efes still led 56-51. Friday's night contest was Okobo's second EuroLeague game back with the team after a suspension, but he certainly didn't look out of rhythm.
"I spent 10 days away from the team. The cardio is gradually coming back. I'm with the group and I'm happy," Okobo said before the game. "Being away from the team wasn't easy, and watching the games on TV was frustrating. I tried to take a step back, look at myself in the mirror, see the things I could improve, the things I could change to do my best for the team. It's been good for me, too. I think I'm coming back with a better face."
Responding in the best way possible
Okobo definitely proved it on the court, leading Monaco to a tough road victory against a team that had beaten Virtus Segafredo Bologna and FC Barcelona by 24 points apiece in the last two rounds. He had 12 of his 16 points in the final 12 minutes.
With the game tied at 58-58, Okobo hit a stop-and-pop jumper from the elbow, before adding a three-pointer soon after and finding Jaron Blossomgame for a reverse layup that gave Monaco a 60-65 lead after 30 minutes. Okobo was just getting started.
He led Monaco throughout the fourth quarter, hitting 5-of-6 free throws, 3 of which came in the final 9.4 seconds, and he also had a tip-in that made Efes call a timeout at 70-75 with under 4 minutes remaining.
Okobo added 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 fouls drawn to amass a PIR of 17. "I feel great. It was a super tough win to get on the road, especially here. They are a really good team and the way we fought in the third quarter, I think we were down 6 at halftime and the way we found all the guys that stepped on the court, even the bench, it was really good. Great energy. We have to keep building from that," Okobo said after the game. "We had to keep our focus. A couple of times this year, with games on the line, we made stupid mistakes and ended up losing. It was really frustrating and tonight we didn't want to same mistakes."
Asked about the upcoming double week, Okobo couldn't help smiling: "I am really ready, really excited. The EuroLeague is always fun to play. I love it!"