The newly appointed coach saw his team prevail on the road in a thriller over the reigning champ
Spanoulis takes debut win as Monaco downs Panathinaikos, 88-91
Vassilis Spanoulis enjoyed a triumphant start to his Turkish Airlines EuroLeague coaching career, guiding AS Monaco to an 88-91 road victory at Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens in a back-and-forth battle featuring 25 lead changes. Monaco improved to 8-4, while Panathinaikos dropped to 7-5 after two straight losses.
Monaco just about edged a high-scoring opening half, ahead 48-50 at the break, but Panathinaikos battled back to lead early in the final quarter. It stayed close the rest of the way, before Monaco controlled the last few possessions to prevail. Alpha Diallo starred with 24 points, while Jordan Loyd scored 15, Elie Okoko added 14, Georgios Papagiannis netted 13 and Mike James dished 10 assists. Mathias Lessort powered Panathinaikos with a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Kendrick Nunn had 23 points. Kostas Sloukas also netted 11 points and Juancho Hernangomez added 10.
Game Videos
Loyd and Vitto Brown both scored 5 points in the early stages for Monaco, but a three-point play from Dinos Mitoglou, a pair of baskets from Jerian Grant and Cedi Osman’s triple kept it tied up, 14-14, midway through the first. James hit a transition three and Diallo added a fastbreak slam, but Panathinaikos hit back with a 6-0 run featuring buckets for Hernangomez and Lorenzo Brown. Papagiannis and then Jaron Blossomgame dunked to reignite Monaco, but Lessort did the same and Nunn also struck, before free throws made it 26-28 at the end of the first.
Inside scores from Blossomgame and Papagiannis pushed Monaco further ahead early in the second, before Lessort’s alleyoop was bettered by Papagiannis’s triple and Diallo’s fastbreak slam for a 33-40 lead. Another Lessort slam, Nunn’s floater and Grant’s midrange jumper pulled the Greens back with a 7-0 run, 40-40. Donatas Motiejunas and the red-hot Lessort scored close to the basket, before a triple from Kostas Sloukas was bettered by inside buckets for Loyd, Okobo and Diallo, making it 48-50 for the visitors at the break.
Diallo opened the second-half scoring, and Papagiannis netted at the rim for a 48-54 lead. Sloukas’s free throws and another Lessort dunk got the hosts moving, but 4 more points from Papagiannis kept Monaco ahead. Lessort’s three-point play was bettered by 4 points for Okobo and a triple for Blossomgame, making it 57-65. Lessort and Nunn started another fightback, and Hernangomez netted consecutive baskets before Nunn’s free throw made it 67-65 with ten minutes left.
Hernangomez hit another three to start the fourth, completing a 13-0 run, before Loyd’s triple relaunched Monaco. Nunn, James, Grant and Diallo all netted triples, and it was 76-74 with 6 minutes left. Okobo kept the three-point party rolling for a 78-79 lead, but Nunn netted 6 more points as the game built towards a big climax. Vitto Brown’s tip-in made it 84-83 with 2 minutes on the clock, and Diallo’s dunk gave Monaco the lead. Lessort’s free throws forced another lead change, but Loyd hit back from deep and then added free throws to seal the deal.