Monaco vs Zalgiris: Elie Okobo to the rescue

AS Monaco guard Elie Okobo missed the 2022 French All-Star game since it was held at the same time as his team’s match against Zalgiris Kaunas but put on a show of his own to lead his squad back to EuroLeague wins.

Okobo scored 13 out of his team-high 22 points in the fourth quarter, dished out nine assists and had four steals to push Monaco to an 84 – 82 win over Zalgiris Kaunas. The Monegasque side trailed for the entire game after the first period and took its first lead with 3:18 to play when Yakuba Ouattara made it 74 – 72 to cap an 8-0 run.

The two teams traded blows, entering crunch time. After Tomas Dimsa hit the triple for the 80 – 79 with 53 seconds remaining, Okobo answered with the same currency to put Monaco up 83 – 79. Edgaras Ulanovas made all of his free throws after winning a foul on a 3-point attempt and, on the other end, Okobo went 1-2 from the line after nine out of nine.

Zalgiris had 16 seconds to win or send the game to the extra period but its players didn’t even manage to shoot the ball on time and lost after leading for almost 30 minutes and being up even by 13 in the first half.

Rolands Smits had 19 points plus five rebounds and Keenan Evans finished with 17 points plus five assists for Zalgiris that came close to a major win on the road but fell short down the stretch. The visiting team had played some strong, physical defense for the larger part of the game to shut down most Monaco’s weapons and Mike James (two points on 0-7 shots plus four assists) in particular.

Zalgiris took a 17 – 26 lead at the end of the first quarter and retained an advantage until the final stretch where Monaco’s aggressiveness took over. Ouattara (14 points) and Alpha Diallo (14 points) also stood out from Monaco.

Partizan vs Bayern Munich: Partizan wins 3 in a row

In their last match of 2022, Partizan Mozzart Bet defeated Bayern Munich 83:77 at packed Stark Arena. It was their third win in a row, as they improved to 7-9, while the German team fell to 5-11.

Dante Exum had a great game with 19 points, but Mathias Lessort was the MVP with another double-double – 16 points and 11 rebounds for a PIR of 28.

Othello Hunter had a double-double for Bayern with 16 points and 14 rebounds, as well as Augustin Rubit who scored 14 points, with 11 boards.

Ognjen Jaramaz added 14 points, Isaac Bonga 11, and Cassius Winston had 10 points for the losing side.

Partizan had a brilliant start with a 9-0 run, but Bayern answered strongly. After their seven straight points, it was 11-9 for the hosts midway through the first period. Obradovic‘s team didn’t panic, maintained the lead, and went to the first break with a 19-14 lead.

After a strong finish to the second quarter, Partizan achieved a double-digit surplus and ended the first half with a 41-29 lead.

With a couple of great plays from Yam Madar and Mathias Lessort, Partizan preserved a double-digit lead in the first part of the third period, but Bayern responded, and trimmed their deficit to seven points with two minutes to go until the final break.

But then, Dante Exum exploded and with eight straight points improved Partizan’s lead to 57:42. Othello Hunter gave hope back to his team with five points late in the third period, as Bayern cut the lead of the host to 59:49.

The guests remained calm and got back in the game from the free throw line, cutting the deficit to just three points (75:72), with less than three minutes on the clock. Still, Partizan remained calm, and with help from Dante Exum managed to stay in front. They controlled the rebounds in the final minutes, scored from the free-throw line, and won in the end.

Emporio Armani Milan vs Valencia: Beron and Davies push Milan to 3 straight wins

After starting the season with nine games losing-streak, Milan has now won three EuroLeague games in a row, beating Valencia 90-79 at home in Round 16.

Being the hero against AS Monaco, Billy Baron was decisive against Valencia as well with 24 points. Brandon Davies followed with 17 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in an all-around performance.

Coming back to the court after three straight sidelined games and being on two EuroLeague teams’ radar, DeShaun Thomas scored 7 points. Devon Hall and Nazareth Mitrou-Long combined for 26 points.

Bojan Dubljevic was by far the best player on Alex Mumbru’s team. The captain of the Spanish team ended the game with 26 points and 7 rebounds, shooting almost perfectly from the field (11/12), but he got fouled out with 1:45 left after ripping his jersey. In the first quarter, he scored 23.

Klemen Prepelic followed with 12 points. Without Chris Jones, its highest scorer in the EuroLeague, Valencia didn’t find a lot of scoring contributions.

After being up by 16 in the second quarter and closing the first half at 50-43, Milan slowed down, giving Valencia the opportunity to reduce the gap to 2 points.

The home side quickly took control of the game once again with a 13-0 run in the third quarter. Nevertheless, the away team managed to almost turn it around at the beginning of the last period, but Milan survived and ran away.

Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Anadolu Efes: Maccabi shuts down Efes in the fourth quarter.

Allowing only seven points in the fourth quarter, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv ran away with the win, 80-72, against reigning back-to-back Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion Anadolu Efes Thursday.

Lorenzo Brown was quick to hit the 500-assist mark in the competition, early in the first quarter. The North Carolina State product went on for 23 points, seven assists, four rebounds, and two steals. Tenth EuroLeague game in a row with at least five assists and the eighth straight showing scoring more the 13 points.

Outscoring the visitors, 20-2, over nine of the last ten minutes, the Yellows scorched the 11th lead change. Leading scorer Brown put in 11 of his points in the fourth period of the Regular Season Round 16 affair.

Snapping a four-game losing streak against Efes, his team jumped to 9-7 and dropped the opponents to 8-8. Third in a row and the seventh win in a total of eight Tel Aviv challenges this season in Europe’s top-tier club continental competition for the Israeli giant. Bonzie Colson and Jalen Adams tallied 11 points apiece. The fifth double-digit scorer, Josh Nebo paired his ten points with eight rebounds. Wade Baldwin IV (hamstring strain) and Alex Poythress (hand surgery) were out alongside scratched Guy Pnini.

On the losing end, Will Clyburn finished with 20 points and a game-high PIR of 26. Rodrigue Beaubois and Vasilije Micic followed with 14 and 13 points, respectively, but both were held off the board in the fourth quarter. Playing under a minutes restriction, Shane Larkin registered four points to finally launch his sixth EuroLeague campaign.

Before the game, Efes announced that captain Dogus Balbay had undergone surgery on his left hip. He logged four EuroLeague appearances earlier in the 2022-23 Regular Season. Recent addition Furkan Haltali, Egehan Arna, and Bugrahan Tuncer were sidelined as well.

Baskonia vs Real Madrid: Howard torches Real.

Markus Howard scored 28 points (11-20) without a free throw as Baskonia beat Real Madrid 92 – 86 in the All-Spanish EuroLeague clash of the week. Baskonia bids farewell to 2022 with a sixth straight win in EuroLeague to improve to 11-5 while Real dropped to 10-6.

Howard had 21 of his points by the 18th minute of the game in a one-man show stretch to push Baskonia towards taking even a 19-point lead, 59 – 40 just before halftime. Real greatly improved their defense and rallied for a major comeback after the break to ultimately manage to cut the deficit to 73 – 71 early in the fourth quarter.

Rokas Giedraitis (season-high 21 points plus five rebounds) drained two 3-pointers in a row as Baskonia moved beyond a shooting distance again. Real had several opportunities to approach closer but some mistakes and missed open shots in key moments prevented them from doing so.

The trio of Gabriel Deck (17 points, six rebounds), Nigel Williams-Goss (season-high 16 points plus five assists) and Edy Tavares (15 points, 12 rebounds) led Real overall while Fabien Causeur (seven rebounds) led the Blancos’ efforts to contain Howard in the second half. Baskonia’s leading scorer still dropped seven points in the first eight minutes of the third period before going silent for the rest of the match.

Baskonia took big advantage of Real’s 15 turnovers by translating these extra possessions to 28 points.

Tags: Euroleague Maccabi Efes Real Madrid Baskonia Milan Valencia Partizan Bayern Monaco Zalgiris