The Blaugrana lost for just the second time at home this season
'Unbelievable' win in Barcelona had Monaco all smiling
![Matthew Strazel of AS Monaco looks to get past Nicolas Laprovittola of FC Barcelona in Round 27 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.](https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/405002c6-4e8c-4611-a74e-32bba36d003a.jpg?crop=926%3A521%3Anowe%3A214%3A8)
Maybe AS Monaco's win over FC Barcelona on Friday night was not pretty, but it doesn't have to be, not when you come away from Palau Blaugrana with the victory.
That 67-77 triumph was Monaco's sixth win in a row, which has kept the team with a share of the third-best record (17-10) and brought it just one win behind second-placed Barca in the standings.
"Every win is important, especially beating a direct opponent for high position in the standings," said a visibly satisfied Sasa Obradovic, Monaco's head coach. "An unbelievable win, even if we had a little bit of problems."
Monaco were off the mark from deep
The problems Obradovic was referring to were of an offensive nature, especially from long range.
Monaco made just 1-of-11 three-point shots in the first half, before finishing the game 6-of-25 from three-point land.
However, the team found a way to make up for it.
Barcelona failed to score more than 16 points in each of the last three quarters, even though the hosts did have their share of open looks that could have seen the game finish with a different outcome. But Monaco kept protecting its glass while holding Barcelona to just 48.7% two-point shooting and 14.8% on threes.
"The team reacted great. We were very physical and we won the game defensively," Obradovic noted.
This win confirmed that even after the break, Monaco is the hottest team in the competition.
"Six in a row is always supposed to be good," Obradovic said with a smile.
He probably does not want to look too far, but Monaco plays five of its seven games on its home floor, and all of those games come against teams who currently hold a losing record.
Mike James closes in on history
The path is open for Monaco to finish as one of the top four teams, just like the path is open for Mike James to become the EuroLeague's all-time leading scorer.
With 17 points against Barca, he is just 12 shy of surpassing Olympiacos Piraeus great Vassilis Spanoulis.
"I am going to break the record eventually. It did not have to be today," James, clearly in the good mood, remarked after the game. "It is better that we won, especially it helps us out in the standings."
The next chance he has is against the 10-17 Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade next Thursday night.