AS Monaco will play its final regular-season game as it looks ahead to the playoffs against visiting German champion ALBA Berlin, which will look to finish the season with another win.
Keys to victory: Monaco vs. ALBA
Monaco must make defense a priority
Monaco has allowed the second-most points in the league this season (80.8 ppg.) and that number skyrockets to 87.6 in losses. Monaco is 2-11 when its opponents have scored more than 80 points this season. And ALBA is 9-2 when it has reached that number. Among those results is a 92-84 ALBA victory in the German capital in Round 17. Monaco must make defense a priority this time to be able to finish the regular season on a winning note.
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ALBA cannot afford many turnovers
While ALBA and Monaco are teams with similar strengths – they are fourth and fifth, respectively, in offensive rebounds and fifth and fourth, respectively, in three-point accuracy – one area where they differ greatly is in taking care of the ball. Monaco has committed the third-fewest turnovers in the league (11.3 per game) and ALBA the second-most (13.7). Even though ALBA’s great ball movement has led to more assists (17.2 apg.) than Monaco (15.4), it can ill-afford so many lost possessions on the road. What’s more, Monaco is fourth in steals (7.1 spg.). If Maodo Lo, Tamir Blatt and Jaleen Smith can create good looks for the team with minimum turnovers, ALBA’s chances to win rise.