Elie Okobo shined for Monaco in Mike James's absence

Virtus Segafredo Bologna had high hopes of upsetting AS Monaco on the road after the home team’s top performer, Mike James, missed the game through suspension, having breached internal club rules. That news came after James had also missed last Friday's 93-102 win at Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz with a finger injury.
However, Elie Okobo came up big against Virtus with an electrifying performance, pacing the hosts with a game-high 21 points to go with 5 rebounds and as many assists. The Frenchman's display saw him overshadow some household Virtus names, such as Milos Teodosic and Marco Belinelli.
Jordan Loyd provided solid backup to Okobo with 15 points as Monaco racked up its fourth successive win and the seventh in its last nine games, With five games remaining in the regular season, Monaco already has one foot in the playoffs, while Thursday's Round 29 victory boosted its hopes of gaining home-court advantage in the postseason.
Okobo made it clear that he was in no mood to slow down, even if the regular season is heading towards the home stretch: “We’ve got to keep that streak going. We’re going to play tougher and tougher teams. It’s the last couple of games before the playoffs and we want to make sure we win as many games as possible.”
Monaco dominated the paint as it outrebounded Virtus 39-24, having collected 16 offensive boards to the visitors' total of just 5. The home team’s aggressive defense limited the Italian side to 33% shooting from three-point range and it also resulted in Virtus committing 18 turnovers.
The athleticism that Monaco can boast also made it difficult for Virtus to create open shots closer to the basket, with the hosts producing 4 blocks as they also forced the visiting team’s big men out of their comfort zone.
Tornike Shengelia and Mam Jaiteh managed just 6 points between them for Virtus, while guards Teodosic and Belinelli each shot 2-of-7 from beyond the arc.
Virtus head coach Sergio Scariolo echoed his team’s struggles after the game: “This [Monaco team] is probably the most athletic team in the competition, and you need to shoot well from the outside. It’s hard to score against them in the paint, especially for a team like us. We had many good looks, but there was no great accuracy tonight. Defensively we did alright, but they were rebounding well all night. We were in the game while the strength and energy was there; we tried really hard, but we were quite tired in the end.”
The result lifted Monaco to 19-10 while Virtus dropped to 13-16, meaning the Italian side now only has a slim chance of reaching the playoffs.