


After 10 minutes of play in Game 4 between Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv and AS Monaco at Menora Mivtachim Arena, the French side had a 17-24 lead and looked on course to wrap up the series, having entered Thursday night's contest leading 2-1. But, Maccabi flipped the script at the beginning of the second quarter by going on a 20-0 run – a club record in a playoff game – to make it a 37-24 game.
From there, Maccabi largely had control of the game – a late push from Monaco in the second quarter aside – as it went on to win 104-69 to force a Game 5 at Salle Gaston Medecin next Wednesday night. Those 104 points by Maccabi are the second most ever recorded in a EuroLeague playoff game, with the all-time record belonging to the 113 points Kinder Virtus Bologna posted against Adecco Estudiantes in 2001.
During that 20-0 run to start the second quarter, Lorenzo Brown made 3 threes, Jake Cohen struck twice from behind the arc, Wade Baldwin scored a two-pointer and John DiBartolomeo went 3-for-3 from the free-throw line. It took Monaco more than 5 minutes to score its first basket of the quarter, by which point the Menora Mivtachim Arena crowd was already in a frenzy.
Monaco was able to cut the gap to 3 points, 39-36, but Maccabi closed out the half strong before putting its foot on the neck of its opponent after the break. Now, looking ahead to Game 5 in Monaco, Baldwin is expecting a tough fixture: "This series has gone back and forth – we need one more. We need to win one more and go to Kaunas, but Wednesday's going to be a battle and I can't wait for it."
For fans of both teams, as well as neutral observers, this series has been a lot of fun – and Game 5 should provide a similar level of entertainment.