Barça subdues Monaco with Calathes and Exum
Jasikevicius’s men remain strong and leaders of the Euroleague
MADRID, 3 (EUROPA PRESS)
Barça beat AS Monaco (88-83) this Thursday on matchday 28 of the Euroleague held at the Palau Blaugrana, a hard-fought win for the leader to continue their streak and good timing, against a rival who wanted to stand up almost unexpected.
The culé team had the match tied in the third quarter, with 57-41 and a clear counter that Laprovittola did not take advantage of. The Monegasque team, in its usual ability to find the right hit, returned to the match thanks to Dwayne Bacon.
Until the last two minutes, the game was even and Barça tied it with a Calathes who became the all-time top assister in the Euroleague, Exum (18 points) and Davies. Sarunas Jasikevicius’ men have 12 wins in a row, between three competitions –they won the Cup–, and they face their marathon of matches pending and on schedule in the month of March.
Three in six days he is playing now, although he hasn’t played in the Euroleague for almost a month, but ‘Saras’ has well rotated the team. He has it thanks to the fact that he does not stop finding good news in his extensive staff. Exum, recently renewed until the end of the season, is the last one, a brave player with quality who was key for Barça to be the sole leader of the Euroleague (21-5).
Monaco was not daunted despite a good local defense and the exchange was the trend until Barça pressed a little more in the second quarter. Hayes was in all of them at times and a Laprovittola who had not scored scored five in a row before the break (42-36). He did not throw ‘Saras’ in excess of Mirotic, but he did of a Calathes who passed Spanoulis as the best assistant.
The culé base gave a recital of those he gave before his injury, recovered seems to be his best version, and despite the fact that Monaco wanted to defend more, he found himself with the culé gale. Barça was able to break the match in the third quarter, with Exum and Calathes, but Bacon burst in with three triples in a row. A bad start to the last quarter culé ended up giving the command to the visitors.
James confirmed the comeback, with four points from Barça in five minutes, but Calathes took on the stripes of a special night, with decisive shots. Exum’s fight and Davies’ turns were also, when the extra time as in the first leg was flying, so that Jasikevicius’s men triumphed again against a Monaco that, between 5th and 8th place, could be a rival in the ‘playoffs’.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: BARÇA, 88 – AS MONACO, 83. (42-36, at halftime).
-EQUIPMENT.
BARÇA: Calathes (10), Laprovittola (7), Exum (22), Mirotic (11) and Sanli (9) –initial quintet–; Davies (11), Martinez (-), Hayes-Davis (9), Kuric (2), Jokubaitis (7).
AS MONACO: Westermann (8), James (19), Diallo (10), Thomas (6) and Motiejunas (14) – fifth inicial–; Lee (2), Bacon (16), Motum (2), Boussiele (-), Ouattara (-), Hall (6).
–PARTIALS: 20-20, 22-16, 24-26, 22-21.
–REFEREES: Ryzhyk, Panther and Kardum. Without eliminated.
–PAVILLION: Palau Blaugrana.
