The team’s offense stayed red-hot all night long
Monaco breaks club history again in beatdown of Efes
Отчеты о матчах
3 Минутное чтение
Regular Season
Round 13 of 38
Regular Season
AS MonacoASM
10266
Anadolu Efes IstanbulEFS
Overview
w
w
l
l
w
l
w
w
l
l
If there’s one team in the EuroLeague that doesn’t want the week-long FIBA break to arrive, it’s AS Monaco.
Last week, Vassilis Spanoulis’s men made club history with a 32-point victory over French League rival LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne. This week, they went one better.
With an undermanned Anadolu Efes Istanbul visiting the principality for Round 13, Monaco put on an offensive clinic. In the words of guard Matthew Strazel, he and his teammates “found a way to kill them and to have fun” en route to a club-record 36-point win.
The triumph over ASVEL felt more like a grind, as Monaco walked away with a 52-84 victory that set a club record for the fewest points allowed. Offensively, though, last season’s EuroLeague runner-up never seemed to get out of second gear.
That certainly wasn’t the case on Wednesday night. Monaco erupted for 102 points in a 102-66 rout of Efes – the second-most it has scored in regulation this season, trailing only the 103 it posted against Dubai Basketball in Round 2. After scoring 50 in the first half, Monaco added 52 more after the break.
Efes did its best to keep pace early, trailing just 50-43 at halftime, but Igor Kokoskov’s side mustered only 23 second-half points as Monaco steadily pulled away, aided by crisp ball movement that led to 28 assists, tying a club record.
“A good night for this organization,” Strazel told EuroLeague TV. “We had to find a way to be consistent through the whole game, and I think we did it the right way. It was good to put everybody on the court. I think everybody enjoyed tonight. That’s a big dub for us.”
Strazel shined with 12 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals, but he wasn’t alone. Only David Michineau – who made his EuroLeague debut with 2:41 remaining – failed to score. Daniel Theis (17 points), Alpha Diallo (13) and Kevarrius Hayes (12) all joined Strazel in double figures.
Being so far ahead in the second half allowed Coach Spanoulis to spread the minutes around, as all 12 players saw the floor. Star guard Mike James even sat the entire fourth quarter, finishing with 7 points and a team-high 6 assists – leaving him just one assist shy of Spanoulis for fourth most all-time.
One player who did capitalize late was Nikola Mirotic. The 2021–22 EuroLeague MVP has had a turbulent start to his Monaco career, but he turned in an impressive all-around performance against Efes: 9 points, a team-best 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals, all of which came in the fourth quarter.
“I’m happy for everybody,” Strazel added. “A shout-out to Niko for the way he played defense tonight. We’re going to enjoy this little break.”
Although he rarely shows it, the happiest man on the night was arguably Coach Spanoulis.
“I think we were concentrated,” he said in his post-game interview with EuroLeague TV. “In the first half we played some very good defense, but they made some very tough shots. We shared the ball great. Our guards did a great job.
“For me it’s not important who scores. We know our talent and we know we’re capable of scoring. I know that if we want to go until the end, we have to play this kind of basketball: share the ball, play great defense, and be a real team.”
If Monaco can maintain this form after the break – when the principality side hosts Paris Basketball and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in back-to-back home games – it will take something special to stop them.
