The first three quarters of AS Monaco’s trip to LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne’s for Thursday’s French League derby could not have been closer, all finishing with a tie on the scoreboard: 20-20, 45-45 and 60-60.
Something special would be needed to break the game open, and that something proved to be a remarkable outburst of offensive rebounding from Monaco’s John Brown. The all-action forward, who first made his EuroLeague mark by leading last season’s competition in steals during his spell with UNICS Kazan, started the final period by grabbing Elie Okobo’s missed shot and converting the second chance shot…and then doing exactly the same thing on Donatas Motiejunas’s miss in the next possession.