Regrets for Monaco
Monaco lost 83-87 in their hall in Match 3 of the Euroleague quarter-finals against Olympiakos Piraeus. The Greeks will have the opportunity to conclude Friday in the Principality, unless the Roca Team snatch a Match 5.
The first two games had been without suspense, the third kept all its promises! While Olympiakos had won Match 1 71-54 and lost Match 2 72-96Basketball – Euroleague (H/Quarters): Monaco achieved the feat by crushing Olympiakos! at home, the Greeks again imposed themselves in Match 3, on the Monaco floor, but they trembled until the end. The players of Piraeus won 83-87 at Gaston-Médecin and therefore lead 2-1 in the series, with a first match point to be played in the Principality on Friday, then a possible Match 5 at home. The first half was very close, with the two teams taking the lead in turn, but never by more than four points for Monaco and five points for Olympiakos (41-45, mt).
Lee gave Monaco the lead
On the restart, Monaco held until 51-51 (23rd), before conceding a 13-0 in five minutes, with long-range shots from Walkup and Vezenkov, and Olympiakos finally concluded the quarter on the score of 58-71. The case then seemed to be settled in favor of the Greeks, and the Monegasques could start saving for Match 4 in two days. But the Roca Team is not in this state of mind there, and carried in particular by Dwayne Bacon (23pts), it came back little by little, until reducing the gap to three points (74-77) ! And Paris Lee even afforded the luxury of equalizing 2’41 from the end (77-77) then giving the advantage to his team (80-79) 1’31 from the buzzer. But Walkup and Vezenkov put Olympiakos back on the right track thanks to free throws (80-85), after mistakes by Léo Westermann, Mike James (his fifth, to conclude a disappointing match at 13pts but 1/9 at the shots) and Paris Lee. Bacon brought Monaco down to 83-85 with six seconds remaining, but the Greeks sealed victory with fresh free throws. The ball is now in Piraeus’ court!
Monegasque markers: Lee (8), Bacon (23), Thomas (15), Motiejunas (9), Andjusic (3), Hall (12), James (13)
EUROLIGUE (H) / QUARTER-FINALS
Game 3 – Tuesday April 26, 2022
Anadolu Efes Istanbul (TUR) – Milan (ITA): 77-65 >>> 2-1 in the series
Maccabi Tel Aviv (ISR) – Real Madrid (ESP) : 76-87 >>> Real Madrid qualified
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Monaco (FRA) – Olympiakos Piraeus (GRE) : 83-87 >>> 1-2 in the series
Bayern Munich (GER) – Barcelona (ESP) : 66-75 >>> 1-2 in the series