Firepower Unleashed: Roca Team’s Playoff Momentum Crushes Le Portel
Roca Team overwhelmed Le Portel. Already in Euroleague play-off mode, the Roca Team left no crumbs for Le Portel (101-67). Following in the footsteps of Jaron Blossomgame (18 points with 4/5 from 3-point range) and Matthew Strazel (16 points with 4/5 from 3-point range), Monaco put itself in the best position and perfectly prepared for the upcoming week.
For the Monégasques, already assured of finishing in first place in the regular season of the championship, the goal was above all to ideally prepare for the Euroleague quarter-finals.
Sasa Obradovic’s sole aim was to preserve the bodies of his players as best as possible, to avoid any injuries. Therefore, the Monégasque coach decided to rest John Brown III, along with Kemba Walker and Terry Tarpey. His starting five, however, was of top Euroleague quality, with Mike James, Jordan Loyd, Yakouba Ouattara, Jaron Blossomgame, and Donatas Motiejunas. On the bench, it’s Manuchar Markoishvili who was in charge.
Right from the start, it was evident that the Portelois players came with intentions, with a strong desire to seize their chance. However, Motiejunas opened the scoring for ASM with his signature rolling shot.
The Roca Team brought out the firepower, with Mike James as the master marksman. Monaco rode on its talent and seriousness to a first quarter lead (33-13).
The game continued with Monaco in fine form stretching their lead to the final whistle. The last minutes were insignificant, as the Roca Boys managed the game and the Portelois unsuccessfully tried to play their game despite the score. A dunk by Mam Jaiteh, a jump shot by Yakuba Ouattara, and a 3-pointer by Petr Cornelie: that was the Roca Team surpassing the hundred points mark to a final score of 101 winning points.
Sasa Obradovic (coach of the Roca Team): “It was a very good victory to keep the rhythm for the play-offs. In training too, the team responds well….. It’s going to be a big fight. It’s important to arrive in the Play-Offs with confidence.”
Jaron Blossomgame (Roca Team power forward): “All week, we’ve been very focused, to best prepare for the Euroleague play-offs..We wanted to use this match to build motivation and confidence. We found our rhythm, we shared the ball well in this match. It’s a very good way to approach the upcoming series against Fenerbahçe, which is going to be a tough battle.”
AS Monaco versus Fenerbahce
It was a tough battle in the first game indeed! Unfortunately, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul rallied from 14 points down to steal home-court advantage from AS Monaco with a 91-95 overtime victory in this Game 1 of the best-of-five playoff series. Fenerbahce buried 3 three-pointers in overtime to grab control of the game.
Monaco got 51 points from the trio of Elie Okobo (19 points), Jordan Loyd (16) and Mike James (16) but they were not enough.
Monaco, which has won 12 of its last 13 games, also lost Game 1 of its playoffs series last season at home against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv before advancing to the Final Four.
