The star guard was one of five players to hit double digits in scoring
Monaco shared the love on Mike James's big night
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Regular Season
Round 28 of 34
Group Regular Season
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All the talk on Thursday night was about Mike James – and rightfully so. But, ever so quietly, AS Monaco notched its seventh consecutive victory in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague by defeating Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade 98-80.
James ended up breaking the EuroLeague’s all-time scoring record with under 4 minutes left before halftime as he reached 13 points on the night, giving him 4,457 in total – one point more than EuroLeague great Vassilis Spanoulis. The celebrations that followed seem to halt James’s momentum a little, but he nevertheless finished the contest with a game-high 20 points by netting seven in the fourth quarter.
It was a team effort from Monaco
The man who was perhaps the reason behind Monaco beginning to pull away late in the third and early in the fourth was Elie Okobo, who ended with 14 points. Okobo had 7 assists, too, as he took over the playmaking duties. There were a couple of assists for Donta Hall dunks that got everyone out of their seats inside Salle Gaston Medecin.
Speaking of Hall, he finished with 10 points after causing all sorts of problems around Zvezda’s rim. The energy that Hall brings whenever he’s on the floor is such a valuable asset for Monaco, and that was proved again in Round 28.
Another big man who reached double digits was Donatas Motiejunas, who had 14 points. After getting the party started with the game’s opening bucket, it was a steady flow of offense by Motiejunas, particularly after the break as he had 5 in the third period and 4 in the fourth.
Last but not least, Jaron Blossomgame. Another player whose energy is so key to this team, he had 12 points but also did a lot of the things that don’t show up in the stats sheet. That is actually something that could be labelled about a few Monaco players, as Alpha Diallo and John Brown make such an impact on every game they play in. They both scored 7 points apiece against Zvezda.
Monaco’s leader, James, deservedly earned all of the plaudits having made history on Thursday night, but it’s fair to say that he’s got a pretty good cast around him, too. That can only spell good news as Monaco looks to secure home-court advantage in the postseason.