And on Thursday night at a packed Peace and Friendship Stadium, Olympiacos Piraeus leaned on a smothering fourth-quarter defense and a remarkably versatile performance from Thomas Walkup to grind out a valuable 75-73 victory over fellow title contender AS Monaco. 

All-action Thomas Walkup eager to re-watch win over Monaco 

There is more than one way to win a game of basketball and more than one way to star as that game’s most important player.

And on Thursday night at a packed Peace and Friendship Stadium, Olympiacos Piraeus leaned on a smothering fourth-quarter defense and a remarkably versatile performance from [Thomas Walkup](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/thomas-walkup/008855/) to grind out a valuable 75-73 victory over fellow title contender AS Monaco.

Olympiacos trailed nearly all of the game, at one stage by 8 points, but just refused to go away. Despite struggling to find fluent ball movement or smooth penetration against an excellent Monaco defense, the Reds just about scored often enough to stop the game from escaping them, and then gradually stepped up the pressure – with the help of the raucous home crowd – in the decisive latter stages.

Eventually, a halfcourt prayer from Mike James on the final buzzer fell short, and Olympiacos claimed the win after restricting the dangerous visiting offense to just 15 points in the final quarter and 2 field goals in the last 5minutes.

Thomas Walkup's best plays against Monaco

A key to that defensive effort – and everything else – was the all-action Walkup, who flirted with a triple-double as he recorded 9 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds and 1 steal for a game-high PIR of 22, also spending more time on the floor than any other player with more than 33 minutes of action in a relentlessly grueling contest.

Other key numbers to emerge from Walkup’s performance are seen in the performance of Mike James, who came into the game as the competition’s leading scorer and top-ranked player. But on this occasion, the suffocating defense of Walkup meant that James could only score 10 points on 4-of-14 field goal shooting, with his only three-pointer coming in the final seconds when the margin was 4 points and Olympiacos elected not to defend him closely in order to avoid the danger of conceding a shooting foul.

<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bwinMVP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#bwinMVP</a>, Thomas Walkup! 🥇⚡<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OlympiacosBC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OlympiacosBC</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TogetherWeFight?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TogetherWeFight</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreOlympiacos?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreOlympiacos</a> <a href="https://t.co/JItOOqc7vn">pic.twitter.com/JItOOqc7vn</a></p>&mdash; OLYMPIACOS BC (@Olympiacos_BC) <a href="https://twitter.com/Olympiacos_BC/status/1743026579314278405?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Walkup’s combination of defense, distribution and scoring meant that he was never far away from the action, and after the game he insisted that he had enjoyed every second. 

“Hell of a game!” he laughed. “Man, I wanna watch that one back as just a neutral fan of basketball. That was a really fun game. Hell of a crowd today, we fought back and really showed our character.” 

Generously, Walkup downplayed his defensive efforts on James, pointing out that the Monaco star exploited the extra attention paid by Olympiacos to stop him from scoring by focusing more on distributing, dishing 7 assists.  

“Mike played really great,” said Walkup. "He facilitated really well and made a lot of good passes. But our team played really well tonight. Guys made shots, guys defended, we showed guts when we needed to. That's a huge team effort.” 

Nobody made a bigger effort than Walkup, who admitted slight regret that he didn’t quite achieve a triple-double after falling 1 point, 1 assist and 3 rebounds short. “I want it!” he asserted. "I wish I would have known that I was on a triple-double watch there!” 

Considering the all-around skillset that Walkup possesses, more chances for that honor will probably come along. And the next time it does, somebody on the Olympiacos bench better be ready to let him know. 

Game Videos

The veteran guard flirted with a triple-double and played stellar defense to lead the Reds. 

Olympiacos Piraeus v AS Monaco (2024-01-04T19:15:00.000Z)

Fall, Lee and Luwawu-Cabarrot’s career nights lifted ASVEL to first home win

The fans of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne were finally able to celebrate a win by their team at their home court. They had to wait till Round 19 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague after witnessing nine consecutive home losses before Thursday night.

But, this time, the ones who exited the Astroballe with a smile on their face were not the visitors, but the locals. ASVEL had a strong performance against Zalgiris and secured the win with authority, building double-digit leads early in the first quarter and never trailing.

One of the reasons that explained such a dominant display was the extraordinary contribution of its starting five, as it provided 85 points, against only 8 coming from the bench. Among them were Paris Lee, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Youssoupha Fall all registering career nights.

Lee finished with 22 points and 8 rebounds for a PIR of 31, which was the best in his Euroleague career. Luwawu Cabarrot posted career-highs in points (27) and PIR (29), while Fall recorded a double-double of 22 points and 12 boards that elevated him to a career-high PIR of 36.

Fall was especially relieved when asked about the meaning of this home win, after such a long period: “It's really good for the mentality because we lost a lot of close games, and it was tough for everybody”, he admitted. “This one is really good for us and for the fans, you know. We will keep going and try to win the most games possible”.

Luwawu-Cabarrot was also happy after clinching the win for the fans. “We've been waiting a long time, but I think we did a great job from the beginning to the end,” he celebrated. “It feels good to win again in front of our fans.”

Game News

The feeling was even sweeter than the one he had in the previous 88-91 win against Zalgiris in Kaunas, as Luwawu-Cabarrot also finished as the team’s best scorer with 19 points. “They found me, my teammates found me”, he explained. “I made threes and I felt good going to the basket and shooting mid-range. So, I mean, it was great today.”

Asked about how comfortable he feels against the Lithuanian powerhouse, he praised his opponent’s spirit. “It was not easy against Kaunas. They never gave up. It was tough towards the end. They were more aggressive, but we stayed together. Of course, we stayed focused, and our game plan was great”, he explained. “We knew what they were doing in defense and we had the answers. I feel like we were playing great defense.”

The trio combined for 71 points and 96 PIR to lead ASVEL to a 93-79 victory over Zalgiris.

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne v Zalgiris Kaunas (2024-01-04T19:00:00.000Z)

Olympiacos Piraeus’s exciting 75-73 victory over AS Monaco was effectively sealed with 22 seconds remaining when Shaquielle McKissic netted a nerveless three-pointer to give the Reds a lead they would protect through free-throw shooting the rest of the way. 

20 on a 10 scale: McKissic thrilled by winning score 

Olympiacos Piraeus’s exciting 75-73 victory over AS Monaco was effectively sealed with 22 seconds remaining when Shaquielle McKissic netted a nerveless three-pointer to give the Reds a lead they would protect through free-throw shooting the rest of the way. 

And it was also the crowning moment of a dynamic performance from McKissic, who has endured a largely frustrating season including nearly two months on the sidelines through injury and a longer-than-hoped return to full fitness. 

But McKissic’s modest statistical contribution – averaging just 5 points per game so far this season – do not tell the story of his importance to the team, with his energy and endless optimism always helping to lift his teammates and, when playing in Piraeus, offering a big dose of energy for the fans to feed off. 

He did exactly that in the second quarter, pulling his team back from an 8-point deficit with a three-pointer, a fierce slam in transition and another eye-catching dunk off a backdoor cut – all in less than 5 minutes. 

Shaquielle McKissic's top plays against Monaco

He saved the best for the last, however. The game had been tied at 69-69 for nearly 2 minutes when Olympiacos looked to break the deadlock inside the final 30 seconds. After a dribble from Isaiah Canaan, the ball was handed to Alec Peters who drove menacingly to the basket before kicking it out to McKissic, waiting patiently near the right corner. 

How did McKissic feel in that moment, with the game on the line and the ball heading into his hands? Pretty good, he said after the game. 

“From 1 to 10, it was a 20!” he beamed. "I knew it was coming to me and I knew it was going in! I’m here before practice every single day, putting the reps in, and hard work is always rewarded.” 

It was certainly rewarded on Thursday night and now, after a tough first half of the season, we can say it without any doubt: Shaq is Back. 

Shaquielle McKissic matched his season-high with 13 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer. 

Ioannis Sfairopoulos masterstroke propelled Zvezda to emphatic win in Belgrade derby

Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade celebrated a comfortable 88-72 win over traditional rival Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade in an emotional city derby, gaining sweet revenge for losing the reverse fixture and rekindling its hopes of making the post-season.

Zvezda improved to 8-11 after completing a perfect double-round week, having pulled off a shock 76-85 win at Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul on Tuesday. Partizan dropped to 10-9 with its third defeat in the last four games after head coach Zeljko Obradovic was outwitted by his counterpart Ioannis Sfairopoulos.

The Greek tactician started with a small-ball outfit including three guards and Dejan Davidovac as the power forward, with Joel Bolomboy expectably deployed as the rim protector. That unit stifled Partizan’s offense early on, allowing Zvezda to dictate the pace.

The home team pulled away when its offensive striking pins Milos Teodosic and Rokas Giedraitis came off the bench and did some damage from the perimeter, while back-up center Freddie Gillespie enjoyed a field day in the first half in only his second game for Zvezda.

Gillespie, who joined Zvezda from Bayern Munich last week, netted 10 points in the opening two quarters as he dominated the paint at both ends. Obradovic chopped and changed throughout but was unable to find a unit capable of holding its own in the opening two quarters, with Partizan contained to a mere 2 assists in the first half while Zvezda dished out a whopping 15 like confetti.

“We showed from the start that we wanted this win and we controlled the game throughout the 40 minutes,” Teodosic said after posting 13 points and 7 assists in the game. “We are starting to play more as a team and we are starting to grow as a team. We needed this win a lot after the one in Istanbul in order to keep boosting our confidence.”

<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="sl" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/adidasPlayeroftheGame?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#adidasPlayeroftheGame</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroLeague?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EuroLeague</a> R19 🏀 <br><br>⭐️ MILOŠ TEODOSIĆ<br><br>📊 13 pts, 8/9 2FG, 8/10 FT, 7 ast, 2 reb; PIR 23 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/kkcz?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#kkcz</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreTheTeam?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreTheTeam</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EveryGameMatters?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EveryGameMatters</a> <a href="https://t.co/pVhTHY03zT">pic.twitter.com/pVhTHY03zT</a></p>&mdash; KK Crvena zvezda Meridianbet (@kkcrvenazvezda) <a href="https://twitter.com/kkcrvenazvezda/status/1743018715954786739?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Sfairopoulos was delighted with his team’s effort. “It was very important to win the derby and I want to congratulate the players as they headed into the game fully focused and they stuck to the plan,” he said. “The first half was one of our best halves we’ve played so far. The second half was different but we were always in control and deserved to win.”

With Zvezda seemingly in cruise control. Partizan stealthily closed the gap to 77-68 in the fourth quarter and then squandered a chance to further slash the deficit, with the visitors missing a pair of second-chance three-pointers. Seconds later, Giedraitis sank a baseline triple and it was lights out for Partizan.

Obradovic conceded the damage was done in the first half, when Partizan was trampled in every department.

“Congrats to Red Star, we tried to react but it wasn’t enough and they deserved to win the game,” he said. “The first half was probably our worst in the EuroLeague this season and I cannot explain why we were so poor.

“Gillespie benefited from playing alongside the likes of Teodosic, Nedovic and Yago, who understand basketball. Clearly, we were bereft of any creativity and the fact that we had 9 turnovers and only 2 assists in the first half showed that in no uncertain terms.”

Zvezda finished on 21 assists and 12 turnovers, while Partizan had 11 assists and 16 turnovers, demonstrating the difference in how the two teams handled the ball. Also, Zvezda made 11 of 25 shots from behind the three-point arc while Partizan was 6 of 22, with many of its sharpshooters enduring a torrid night.

Sfairopoulos lauded his team’s effort at both ends of the court. “It was very important to limit the competition’s best offense to just 72 points,” he said. “At the other end, we had free-flowing offense and six players scoring in double digits. I am very satisfied how everybody approached the game and played it. We can’t get ahead of ourselves though and we will only look forward to the next one.”

The home team’s head coach outfoxed his more heralded Partzian counterpart Zeljko Obradovic.

Ioannis Sfairopoulos masterstroke propelled Zvezda to emphatic derby win

Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade v Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (2024-01-04T19:00:00.000Z)

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne defeated Zalgiris Kaunas 93-79 in Round 19 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague Regular Season.

ASVEL ends slide with 93-79 triumph over Zalgiris

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EuroLeague Live Blog: LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne vs. Zalgiris Kaunas.

Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Youssoupha Fall and Paris Lee combined for 71 points to lead the winners. 

Olympiacos B.C. held off AS Monaco Basket 75-73 in a thriller in Round 19 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague Regular Season.

Olympiacos holds off Monaco, 75-73, in thriller

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EuroLeague Live Blog: Olympiacos Piraeus vs. AS Monaco.

Shaq McKissic broke a 69-69 tie with a three-pointer with 22 seconds remaining.

KK Crvena zvezda defeated archrival KK Partizan 88-72 in the second Eternal Derby of the 2023-24 EuroLeague season.

Crvena Zvezda captures 88-72 derby win

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EuroLeague Live Blog: Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade vs. Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade.

Nemanja Nedovic led six Zvezda scorers in double figures with 16 points. 

Fenerbahce never takes foot off gas, sets club scoring record in blowout of Maccabi

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul players and coaching staff were pleased with the team’s record-setting 109-74 victory over Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, as the Turkish side never took the foot off the gas in playing strong for the full 40 minutes.

Fenerbahce’s 109 points set a new club mark, topping the 107 points the team scored four times, most recently against Panathinaikos Athens in November 2022. The blowout was close to a number of other records.

The 35-point difference was the fourth largest ever for Fenerbahce in a EuroLeague game. The club's best is 43 points from 2001-02 and it was the second-widest margin since Ulker became Fenerbahce.

Maccabi meanwhile suffered its second-largest defeat in a EuroLeague game - the worst loss being 39 points against Galatasaray in 2016-17.

“It was a good win. We didn’t let up in the second half even though we had a comfortable lead. It was good,” said Tyler Dorsey, who scored 21 points to lead six Fenerbahce in double figures. “We had yet put together a 40-minute game and I think we did that tonight. We didn’t let up. We kept our foot on the gas. It was our first comfortable win, hopefully we can add some more during the year.”

Head coach Saras Jasikevicius was happy with his team’s performance, which resulted in a fifth win in six games since he was hired.

“We had a great mentality. We were playing hard for long periods of time. As soon as we started to let up a little bit Maccabi started to make some runs. But we were pretty solid throughout the whole game,” Jasikevicius said.

Fenerbahce was effective in stopping what Maccabi really had done well in winning four of its previous five games.

The home side forced 26 Maccabi turnovers and held the number one offensive rebounding team to 11 boards on that end. Maccabi also really likes to push the ball in transition, something Fenerbahce did not allow either.

Fenerbahce outscored Maccabi 24-5 in points off turnovers as well as 16-7 in fast break points.

"That was our main focus. We did a great job on that - we limited them to one shot a lot of times and we were able to get out and run. And it yielded us a very comfortable win,” added Nigel Hayes-Davis.

The club bounced back nicely from its first loss of the Sarunas Jasikevicius era with a monster night on both ends. 

Fenerbahce sets club scoring record in blowout of Maccabi

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul v Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (2024-01-04T17:45:00.000Z)

Fenerbahçe Beko Istanbul set a club scoring record as it routed Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. 109-74 in Panevezys, Lithuania, in Round 19 of the 2023-24 EuroLeague Regular Season.

Fenerbahce pounds Maccabi, 109-74

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EuroLeague Live Blog: Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul vs. Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv.

The winners establishes a new club record for scoring in the rout. 