EUROLIGUE 2024/25 – AS Monaco started the year with another victory, on the floor of Alba Berlin, 105-90. The Roca Team delivered an impeccable first half, before taking the tide in the second. Ultimately, the 20-point lead acquired at the break was enough to ensure success took longer than expected to take shape.
A week after ending the year on a good note against Anadolu Efes, theAS Monaco had a great opportunity to start 2025 off right. Faced with the current red lantern, theAlba Berlinthe Monegasques could therefore consolidate their leadership position. Furthermore, this meeting also marked the long-awaited return of Nick Calatheswhich has so far only made one appearance under the colors of the Roca Team (in Betclic Élite, on September 20).
Monaco strolls (again) against Berlin
Having been put through the mill on the Rock less than a month ago, Alba is trying to show a different face at the start of the match. Supported by its public, the German club is successful, like an improbable shot of William McDonald-White. Attacked, Monaco then responded with good ball circulation, and the points Vitto Brown. Then, Matthew Strazel et Mike James will each stand up twice behind the arc. Meanwhile, Alba suffers, and already takes its first serious shine (23-12). Applied defensively, the French defense lets nothing slip through, but will let go at the end of the first quarter, allowing the Germans to revive slightly (30-21).
But this will only be a smokescreen. As in the first leg, the difference between the two teams is enormous, and Nick Calathes gets his bearings by lining up the caviars. Above all, the Roca Team continues to display a stifling defense, symbolized by five counterattacks and a mess of German ball losses. In three minutes, an 11-2 is stuck following a four-point action from Strazel (41-23). In total confidence, the Monegasques do not relax their grip, and roll on a panicked defense. If the address falters for a while, it is not a problem as their opponents are already in the bottom of the bag. The Roca Team manages calmly, puts in a final trick three seconds from the buzzer to reach the locker room with already 20 points in advance (55-35).
The Monegasque defense falters, but provides the essentials
With their backs to the wall, Berlin will resume the game as at the start of the match. The shots are raining, and confidence is returning. Surprise, ASM conceded 15 points in just three minutes, the fault of an impressive 4/4 three points from the Germans. Despite a timeout, the Monegasque defense did not calm the storm and continued to suffer (65-54). With forceps, Spanoulis’ men will then go for points on the free throw line to maintain the gap. And show composure, like a buzzer beater Mike Jamesto stay the course, despite the 32 points conceded in this third quarter (79-67).
Then, Matthew Strazel will give his family a breath of fresh air by continuing his recital behind the arc. The international tricolor falls twice to post a perfect 5/5 in the exercise. The heated atmosphere was suddenly cooled, and the Monegasques’ offensive play regained consistency. In two minutes, the match seems definitively over (89-72). However, a total failure to rebound gave the Germans hope. The latter are literally on fire, carried by the Italian doublet Gabriele Procida – Matteo Spagnoloand take advantage of the collapse of the Monegasques. From a won match, the Roca Team finds itself close to a stressful money-time (92-86).
More Mike James (23 points, 7 assists) will take the three-point shot he needs to get his team out of this bad situation. In the process, the American stays on the line, and finally kills all suspense (98-88). At the end of a match in which the Roca Team showed two faces, the latter finally capitalized on its first quarter to extricate itself from a delicate situation. The French champion therefore retains the EuroLeague leader’s chairbefore receiving Barcelona next week.
