The Monaco maestro managed to outshine the Baskonia sharpshooter in Round 10.
Mike James prevails in shooters’ shootout with Markus Howard
Articolo
3 Minuto di lettura
Regular Season
Round 10 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Two of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague’s elite scorers went head to head at Buesa Arena on Friday night, yet it was AS Monaco’s Mike James who ended up comfortably winning his personal battle with Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz's Markus Howard.
There was a surprise before tipoff when Howard was left out of Baskonia’s starting five for the first time this season, and he didn’t enter the action until the end of the first quarter. If the plan was to keep him fresh to do damage once the game started to open up, that backfired badly because Howard instead picked up 2 fouls almost immediately and then a third a few minutes later, before he had even scored.
Dusko Ivanovic bravely kept Howard in the game on those 3 fouls, and he did manage to score a triple but was understandably subdued, perhaps playing within himself in the fear of collecting a fourth foul before halftime.
Mike James haunted his former team
James, meanwhile, was being Mike James. He steadily piled up the points to score 9 in the first half and then, at the start of the second, predictably became the game’s first player in double digits. And that was just the beginning.
Angered by a couple of non-foul calls, James used that as fuel for a flurry of baskets as he netted 3 three-pointers, 3 free throws and a layup (14 points in total) in less than 5 minutes.
Early in the fourth quarter James added another triple, his fifth of the night, to cap a 0-9 run and seemingly sewed up the game, with Monaco enjoying an 11-point lead, 62-73.
Markus Howard gave Baskonia hope
It wasn’t quite game over, though. Howard had bridged the third and fourth quarters with 7 points in a minute before finally picking up that fourth foul and heading to the bench.
But with Baskonia fighting back, he returned to the action during crunch time and appeared to have sent the game to overtime by draining a stunning triple with 6 seconds left.
James, Monaco came out on top
But James would have the final word, seeking another triple to win the game. He missed, but Jaron Blossomgame flew highest and hardest for the rebound to unleash a spectacular game-winning putback slam, sealing the win for Monaco. Even when James didn’t score, he still scored.
In the end, 28 points for James, 18 for Howard and 9 three-pointers between them. The shooters’ shootout did not disappoint, and James ended up victorious.