Vassilis Spanoulis's side has showed out through Games 1 and 2 of the playoffs
Monaco's ‘luxury’ backcourt flipped the script on Barcelona in Game 2
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When the playoff pairings were finalized a week ago, few would have thought that the series between fourth-seeded AS Monaco and fifth-placed FC Barcelona would be the most lopsided of the four in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs. But, it is not even close after two games in each series have been played.
Monaco dominated Games 1 and 2, winning them by a combined 31-point margin, including a 92-79 win on Friday night. And Game 2, as intense as it was, did not seem as close as the final 13-point margin would suggest.
“I think we are just playing well,” Alpha Diallo, one of the main protagonists of Game 2, said. “We are playing defense, nitty-gritty, and we are helping each other as well. When we play like that, it's really hard to beat us. Especially with the offensive talent we have.”
While Diallo says it all starts with defense, with Monaco playing with a visible energy and physicality, what caught everyone’s eye is Monaco offense and how impressive it has been looking. And that is a bit of a surprise.
Barcelona was the team that finished the regular season ranked second in scoring (88.1 ppg.) and second in assists (20.1 apg.). Monaco was not too far behind with 86.3 points and 18.7 assists, but it was middle-of-the-pack in both categories.
But after two opening games of this playoff series, this script has been flipped.
Monaco has scored at least 92 points in both games to start the series, while no other team in the other six playoff fixtures has so far managed to score 90.
This offensive rhapsody was especially on display in Game 2 as Monaco went 28 for 39 (71.8%) on two-pointers and dished a club-record 28 assists.
“I think we were even better than in the first game,” Monaco head coach Vassilis Spanoulis said after his team took a 2-0 series lead, before stressing why he thinks everything is clicking: “We have guards who have willingness to create for their teammates, and this is big for me.”
Monaco has a total of 49 assists in two playoff games, which is 12 more than the next best team (Efes with 37), and an incredible 21 more than Barcelona.
In Game 2, what might be the most impressive part is that Monaco had 25 assists in the first three quarters, along with 80 points and a 16-point lead.
“Our guards were amazing, creating for the others,” Spanoulis also said.
“When you have such talented guards who have a willingness to play for the team, for the win, to read the defenses and to not overdo it, it’s a luxury. When they understand this, we are a different team.”
The center of this all is, of course, Mike James. He had just 5 points on 1-of-6 field-goal shooting, with 6 assists and 4 turnovers. But the EuroLeague's all-time leading scorer received nothing but praise from his coach.
“He takes so much attention of the defenses, so he makes everybody’s life easier,” Spanoulis said after Game 2. “This is the chemistry of this team, they play for each other. We do not want to play selfish, we want to play good basketball, and to take what the game gives us.
"Mike had a lot of good looks in the first game, and he was our best scorer, and now he was our great creator. Somebody else did the job because we trust each other, we share the ball and we are ready to always take the right decision. I am very happy for this and I am very proud of our creators, Mike and Elie [Okobo] and Matthew [Strazel].”
The trio combined for 19 assists in Game 2, and the next task for Monaco is to carry its momentum into Game 3 and finish the job. The first chance comes next Wednesday at Palau Blaugrana in Barcelona.