The Palau Blaugrana dressed up to the nines for the Monaco reception. For this duel between Barça Basketball, 2nd in the Euroleague and the Monegasques, 5th at kick-off, the Blaugrana supporters responded. The Catalans, who got into their match well, gradually let the visitors take the lead and get away with the score (final score 67-77). Barça remains 2nd with 18 victories and Monaco moves to 3rd with this 17th success in the competition.
Barça starts well
Roger Grimau’s men started strong and led 12-4 (4th) then 21-12 (10th).
Ricky Rubio made his comeback in the Blaugrana jersey, almost 13 years (or 4,644 days) after his departure. But the Rocher players gradually returned to the match, regaining their effectiveness (21-18, 12th).
At the break, Barça led by two small points thanks to the talent of Jan Vesely and Nico Laprovittola (35-33).
Monaco escapes by the score
Shortly before halftime, the visitors took the lead (48-56, 27th). Ricky Rubio achieved a sensational 2-1 but Monaco did well at the other end, scoring on each of their attacks. The Catalans, more tense, lacked precision at 2 and 3 points. In defense, they left too much space for the Principality club, which was able to adjust its shots to gradually gain the upper hand (51-60). Mike James scored a final three distant points which ended any hope of a Catalan comeback (67-77, 60th).
James (17 pts, 8 rebounds), Strazel (13), Motiejunas (12) and Hall (10) hurt the Catalans.
After 3 consecutive victories in the competition, Barça is experiencing a setback, with no consequences in the ranking.
MATCH SHEET
Barça, 67
AS Monaco, 77
Barça : Tomas Satoransky (8), Nico Laprovittola (13), Nikola Kalinic (2), Jabari Parker (7), Jan Vesely (19) -starting zinc- Rokas Jokubaitis (2), Willy Hernangómez (3), Alex Abrines (4) , Darío Brizuela (2), Oscar Da Silva (2), Ricky Rubio (5), James Nnaji (-)
AS Monaco : Mike James (17), Matthew Strazel (13), John Brown (3), Jaron Blossomgame (10), Donatas Motiejunas (12) -cinc inicial- Alpha Diallo (4), Elie Okobo (7), Mam Jaiteh (1), Petr Cornelie (0), Kemba Walker (0), Donta Hall (10), Terry Tarpey (-)
Evolution of the score: 21-12, 14-21 // 16-27, 16-17
Referees : Sreten Radović, Seffi Shemmesh, Saso Petek
2024-03-02 02:29:18
#Monaco #Palau #defeat
