Monaco – Unics Kazan 79-76: Mike James kept them up in the octave battle with a three at 6.9”

Mike James scored the night’s biggest shot at the Salle Gaston Medecin against Unics Kazan to lead Monaco to victory (79-76) in a game postponed for the 20th EuroLeague game. The visitors had pulled off an impressive -15 upset, with Jay Mayo leveling in the moment (at 24.1”) before Mike James shot for the win, leaving 6.9” to go.

This was the second French victory over the Russian team, which in any case makes the Reds the absolute boss of a draw against Unics Kazan in the regular-season final.

The race

The game was fast paced from the start, but neither team was bothered by that. Both seemed comfortable with Mike James and Mario Hezonia leading, mainly on personal stages. Most importantly, of course, the hosts kept a small lead (22-19 in 10 minutes) despite ending the first third with 1/7 three points. The pressure from the Russian team was still great, but in fact it wasn’t enough to turn the game around.

Therefore, Sasa Obradovic’s team ended the first half +8 (44-36), thanks to a buzzer beater by Mike James from 6:75. All of this in a 20-minute period in which the biggest problem was Monaco’s loss of three points (3/13) and Unics Kazan’s two points (8/22).

Monaco’s superiority became clearer in the second half. Sasa Obradovic’s players initially reached +13 (51:38) in the middle of the third period, taking advantage of the fact that the guests had big problems with outside shots. And if Mario Hezonia Unics Kazan brought the points to -6 (61:55) in the 30th minute of the game, what followed in the next four minutes largely determined the result.

Monaco held Unics Kazan without a point for almost four minutes, with the result that the difference shot up to +15 (70-55 in 36 minutes), while Alfa Diallo gave his team additional solutions. However, Velimir Perasovic’s players didn’t give up even though the game seemed lost. They also pushed thanks to Mario Hezonia – Jay Mayo got to the point where he balanced the match perfectly (76-76) with 24.1” for the end, thanks to a second three-pointer in transition.

However, the last conversation belonged to the side of the hosts. Mike James took charge, taking the sidestep and setting the win three-pointer to 6.9” in the end, keeping Monaco alive in the battle for the octave.

THE REFEREES: Pukl-Pereth-Silva.

THE TEN MINUTES: 22-19, 44-36, 61-55, 79-76.

The next commitments of the two teams: Monaco have another home game to follow, this time against Fenerbahce (25/2, 21:00), while Unics Kazan travel to Vitoria to play Baskonia (24/2, 21:30).