The American playmaker replicated his past two performances in Munich to steer Monaco past the German side.
Same old story as Mike James subdued Bayern again
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3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 16 of 34
Regular Season
FC Bayern MunichBAY
8091
AS MonacoASM
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AS Monaco put an end to a two-game skid with an 80-91 road win at FC Bayern Munich on Friday night thanks to yet another impressive performance by Mike James, who continued to torment the German team after scoring a game-high 28 points.
In Monaco’s previous two wins at Bayern, James scored 26 points when the French side prevailed 78-83 in the 2021-22 season and then netted 28 in an 81-84 victory last term, tying his career-best mark of 6 three-pointers made.
Mike James made sure Monaco got the win
This time around, James poured 22 points in the second half to fend off a spirited Bayern fightback after the visitors had carved out a 31-46 first-half lead, largely thanks to an Elie Okobo blitz. Okobo scored 12 points in less than 9 first-half minutes on the court and James took over after the interval.
The 33-year-old point guard shot 9-of-14 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the foul line, toying with his markers time and again by either driving to the basket or effortlessly sinking tough perimeter shots.
Hard-working Okobo also fired on all cylinders in crunch time, finishing the game on 19 points and 5 assists.
Monaco responded in the perfect way
The result vanquished the ghosts of Monaco’s tough 90-91 home loss at the hands of Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens on Tuesday, when the Greek side snatched victory from Monaco’s grasp with a last-gasp three-pointer.
“We headed into the game focused, and it’s a very important win after the home loss to Panathinaikos,” Monaco head coach Sasa Obradovic said in a flash post-game interview. “We did a good job defensively most of the game.”
Okobo added: “Bayern had a good run in the fourth quarter, but we were able to stay locked in. The loss two days ago felt awful and to win here on the road against a very good team shows character.”
James, for his part, acknowledged the torrid schedule has played a part in Monaco’s patchy form recently, as well as in the dip late in the third quarter and early in the fourth against Bayern, when the hosts slashed their deficit to just 6 points.
“Double weeks are always tough with all the travelling, so we’re happy we got one on the road,” commented James. “We had a little relapse in the third quarter, but we fought through. It’s been a long week, we’re happy to get the win and we’re ready to go home.”
Bayern boss Pablo Laso conceded his team had left itself a mountain to climb in the second half. “We gave ourselves too much to do when we fell 15 points behind in the first half and although we found some momentum in the second, Monaco made all the crunch shots when they needed to. Of course, James is difficult to stop because he is a very good player. We have to recover from a tough week and learn from this defeat.”