RANT SPORTS – French update: Monaco rises, Paris falls
Monaco displaced French rivals, Paris Basket, to head into the new year as the leader in EuroLeague.
Monaco moved to the summit on Friday after Paris Basket suffered their third straight loss in the competition against Spanish outfit, Baskonia.
The Monegasques, on Boxing Day, stamped their authority at the Salle Gaston Medecin with a 94-75 win against their Turkish visitors, Anadolu Efes.
The team’s rise to the top is as a result of the impact made by coach Vassilis Spanoulis who replaced Sasa Obradovic in November.
Since Spanoulis’ appointment on November 26, Monaco have won five of their last seven EuroLeague games, the two defeats came against Olympiacos on December 4 and Real Madrid on December 19.
While Monaco are enjoying a rich vein of form, the race for the play-offs is still wide open with Olympiacos and Paris Basket trailing in second and third spots.
Defending champions Panathinaikos are in fourth position and the EuroLeague’s most successful club, Real Madrid are in 10th position.
EuroLeague Round 18 in summary
In a nail-biting contest in Milan, Olympiacos fought until the final second on Thursday to bag their third straight win with a 84-83 win against Olimpia Milano.
Sasha Vezenkov powered the Greek giants to victory with his return of 21 points – the most by any player in the game.
Elsewhere, Barcelona lost at home to Red Star Belgrade which meant back-to-back losses for the Catalonia outfit while their Spanish rivals Real Madrid got the better of Alba Berlin with 80-61 win, thanks to free-scoring captain Sergio Llull who registered 20 points.
Bayern Munich had their work cut out at the Audi Dome as former Washington Wizards star Kendrick Nunn ran the show for Panathinaikos with a magnificent contribution of 27 points, six rebounds and two assists that powered them to a 80-69 win.
It was the first time Bayern Munich lost at home this season.
Partizan wins at home, sending struggling Fenerbahce to another defeat
In Serbia, Partizan snapped their losing run with a first win in three games and they compounded Fenerbahce’s woes with a dominant 90-81 victory.
It was a tough night for Fenerbahce as coach Sarunas Jasikevicius was ejected during the game for a second technical foul after he stepped into the court.
However, Duane Washington was at the centre of the morale-boosting win for Partizan with 27 points.
In Spain, things turned from bad to worse for Paris Basketball as they gave up a 16-point lead at half-time to lose 94-81 to Baskonia Vitoria on Friday.
Nigeria star Chima Moneke turned up in style for his best game yet for Baskonia this season with an outstanding 29 points and 10 rebounds as the home team swept Paris aside in the fourth quarter.
Despite making a bright start to their debut outing in the EuroLeague, Paris Basket ended the year without a win, now winless in their last three games in the competition.
As expected, Paris coach Tiago Splitter knocked his players for not taking their chances and he praised the Baskonia duo of Moneke and Markus Howard for their incredible performances.
“Basketball is like that sometimes: Vitoria made all its difficult shots and we missed a lot of open shots,” the former Houston Rockets and Brooklyn Nets coach said.
“We moved the ball well, found the shots we wanted, but we didn’t make them. We have to live with this kind of game. It’s linked to the basketball that we try to develop.
“We had an off night, and Howard and Moneke were incredible, Vitoria deserved to win.”
What next in the EuroLeague
Following the commencement of the second half of on Thursday, all 18 teams will be expected to switch up their performances as the fight for playoff spots intensifies.
Round 19 will begin on January 2 through January 3 with mouth-watering match-ups.
Paris Basket will play host to Barcelona at the Accor Arena, Bayern Munich visit Real Madrid in the Spanish capital, Monaco travel to Alba Berlin, ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne host Olimpia Milano, Fenerbahce play at home against Anadolu Efes and Panathinaikos welcome Virtus Bologna to Greece.
