Beaten by the Greeks (87-83), on Wednesday, the Monegasques are led two sets to one in the quarter-finals of the Euroleague.
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The Gaston-Médecin room in Monaco discovered for the first time what a real Euroleague playoff match was like, with the intensity and suspense that accompany these high-stakes matches. Unfortunately, the Roca Team will keep a bitter memory of it since they were defeated by Olympiakos (87-83), Wednesday April 27, in match 3 of the Euroleague quarter-final. Led two sets to one, it no longer has the right to make mistakes. The next loss is eliminatory.
Monaco 8⃣3⃣ – 8⃣7⃣ Olympiacos
End of match 3, Monaco bows and will have to bet everything on the next meeting.
See you Friday at 9 p.m.!#theBasketball team pic.twitter.com/SrZ46RIG6H
— the chain L’Équipe (@lachainelequipe) April 27, 2022
Two consecutive three-point arrows from Paris Lee (8 points), first to equalize (77-77, 38′) then to pass (80-79, 39′) suggested that Monaco could pull off the perfect turn. It was without counting on the cold blood of the Greeks who completed their success by registering their last eight points on free throws, thanks in particular to the immortal Kostas Sloukas (21 points).
Led for a very large part of the match, the Roca Team nevertheless achieved a top-flight last quarter, regaining their defensive rigor as well as their award-winning address to come back on the heels of Olympiakos. In the wake of his successful match 2 (17 points), Dwayne Bacon (23 points this evening) once again distinguished himself to catch up with a disbursement of fifteen points at the start of the last act (58-73, 30 ‘) . A gap widened in the third quarter by the long-distance precision of the Piraeus club (10/24 at three points over the whole game).
The fourth quarter was not enough to erase the shortcomings of Monaco, which came from too far to overthrow Olympiakos. The Greeks are taking a serious option for qualification. Victory is now mandatory for Monaco, from Friday for match 4, if the Roca Team wants to represent the French championship in the Euroleague Final Four for the first time since ASVEL in 1997.