Difficult game for Monaco in Tel Aviv
The Euroleague this season is fantastic with quality matches, reversals of situations, players who succeed in huge matches; all these ingredients also appeared in the series between Maccabi and Monaco, after the first 2 matches the score is 1-1 and matches 3 and 4 can bring us other surprises.
The series started with a first match won by Maccabi on the road exactly as I expected with Baldwin-Brown shining. Baldwin had 20 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and Brown had 15 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists. From Monaco Diallo had 15 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and James 15 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists. The 79-67 victory was the first playoff game won since 2014, when they won last time the EuroLeague trophy, a truly strange statistic. Game 2 was again a good one for Baldwin-Brown with Baldwin 17 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and Brown 16 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists but this time Loyd appeared, who after having 2 points in the first game in 23:53 minutes and -18 +/- this time he achieved a personal high by scoring 33 points on perfect 5-of-5 shooting from two-point range, 5-of-9 from beyond the arc and 8-of -9 from the foul line. Not only Loyd had a good game, Ouattara with 12 points was also a surprise and Mike James with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists came with his experience in the most important moments for an 86-74 victory. One thing that should be noted is that in both matches Maccabi won the battle of the boards, in the first match it was 38-32 and in the second 40-32.
So far, although there are 2 teams that on average score over 80 points per game (Maccabi 83.2; Monaco 82.9) and receive over 80 points per game (Maccabi 80.7; Monaco 81.4) in the four direct meetings this season only Monaco twice passed the 80 points mark, which shows us that in direct matches they are much more attentive on the defensive. Maccabi was a fortress at home, winning 15 out of 17 Euroleague matches, the best team at home. Baldwin-Brown has the chance to end the series in these 2 matches at home and if James or Loyd do not succeed in another phenomenal match, Maccabi will secure their Final Four tickets.
Valentin Petruta
Photo credit: EuroLeague
