The Monaco guard moved to first overall all-time in PIR on Thursday night
Mike James lights up Maccabi in OT shootout, makes EuroLeague history
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 9 of 38
Regular Season
Maccabi Rapyd Tel AvivMTA
107112
AS MonacoASM
Overview
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If Mike James was going to make history, he was going to do it his way.
Heading into Round 9, the AS Monaco star needed just eight index rating points to surpass Nando De Colo and claim first place on the all-time PIR list. He ended up delivering a statement performance, posting a 37 PIR – the joint third highest of his 332-game EuroLeague career – and leading Monaco to a thrilling 112–107 overtime victory over Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv. History made, and a big road win to match.
Although Monaco came away with the victory, it spent most of the game playing catchup. After James put the visitors 16-18 ahead with 3:15 to go in the first quarter, his team wouldn’t lead again for almost another 30 minutes – not until Matthew Strazel gave Monaco a slender edge at 84-85 with just under 5 minutes left in the fourth. In that time, though, James kept plugging away, be it through scoring or providing assists.
The EuroLeague’s all-time leading scorer entered the fourth quarter with 19 points, 5 assists, 1 rebound and 2 steals in 23 minutes, but he took his game to another level in the fourth quarter and then overtime.
With Monaco going in search of a third straight victory, having beaten the two Greek giants – Olympiacos Piraeus (87-92) and Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens (92-84) – last week, James poured in 15 points, pulled down 5 rebounds and dished 1 assist in the fourth quarter alone before adding 3 points and 2 assists to his tally in the extra session. That took him to 34 points – the most he has scored since 2021 – 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals on the night.
“To get a win here is good for us,” James told EuroLeague TV after the game. “We’ve just to keep building on this and try to play better in the next game.”
Not only did Thursday night see James go first all-time in PIR (5,617) and extend his advantage in first place in scoring (5,407 points), but he also moved to joint second all-time in three-pointers made (623), level with FC Barcelona great Juan Carlos Navarro.
This is Mike James’s world, we’re just living in it.
