Hezonja is Super Mario again in Monaco

Euroleague

day 23

AS Monaco

91 95

Finalized

Real Madrid

Madrid escaped from Monaco with a double victory.

The one that tied with a lot of suffering (91-95) thanks to the imperial performance of Mario Hezonja (30 points, six rebounds and six assists) and the one that gives him the

against a rival that rubs shoulders at the top of the Euroleague and that they had won the first leg by 94-95.

The white team is strong at the top of the table, along with Olympiacos, after a night of much sweat.

A small pavilion and a fiery audience led to a very fast start.

Monaco punished with penetrations from Loyd and Mike James, the local engine in that start, and Madrid revolved around Hezonja, their most productive piece (6-9).

Deck took advantage of his power playing forward, Tavares came to the bench with two fouls in seven minutes and Sergio Rodríguez and Musa, always the Bosnian with a hot wrist, added to the generation of play.

The whites reached the first breath ahead (20-24).

.@mariohezonja showing his RANGE 🎯#7DAYSMagicMoment pic.twitter.com/GC2hnjsmZM

— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) February 3, 2023

Monaco percussed with quick basket entries, accelerations that were difficult for Madrid to stop.

A dunk from Hall, a triple from Okobo and the white losses turned the score around (27-26).

Yabusele came to the rescue to hurt inside.

Without Tavares, the Frenchman played five and Deck played four, a shorter team with Hezonja plugged in from the perimeter, very quick to get the most out of his talent one-on-one (20 points in the first half, 15 of them in the second quarter). .

The best version of Super Mario, delighted in the role of leader.

Monaco, to their own, take advantage of the first hole to launch headlong towards the hoop, straight into the heart of the area.

Without thinking twice.

express attacks.

At halftime, 46-50.

Tavares charged with the third foul early in the second half, Williams-Goss tangled to lose the ball and Monaco linked a 12-0 run with their run-and-run recipe.

The offensives of the men in black lasted a breath, with James as a dynamiter.

Madrid only celebrated one point in four minutes and Tavares made the fourth, just like Poirier.

The whites couldn't hit the mark, very weak (58-51) in attack and soft behind, while Chus Mateo ordered a stop and reset.

Musa, Llull and Hezonja cut the drought from the triple, but Poirier was eliminated for five fouls and the losses continued.

Madrid suffered without the strength of its pivots.

The group survived at a distance, saved by their court of marksmen.

Musa added an acrobatic three plus one to leave everything open (71-70) before the last quarter.

Hezonja returned to claim the ball.

Madrid had to rebuild the meccano without its interior players, with the wild card Deck in the area.

James, seconded by Okobo and Diallo, continued to be a torture for the whites.

The clash was played from power to power, frantic, without rest, with short attacks and many possessions.

Chus Mateo's team tightened in defense and a burst of inspiration from Hanga gave the visitors an unexpected income minutes before (82-87).

Madrid lined up all their foreign artillery until they turned to Tavares with two and a half minutes to go.

The giant intimidated in the paint and Hezonja, entranced, put another gear to fasten his record for scoring, efficiency (34) and assists in the EuroLeague.

His was a match that gave Madrid a victory with double value.

In a game that went right down the stretch, @RMBaloncesto ran out 91-95 winners over @ASMBasket_EN I @ASMonaco_Basket

Highlights... pic.twitter.com/JEDF9eqIHk

— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) February 3, 2023

Monaco: Loyd (4), James (23), Brown (7), Blossomgame (6), Motiejunas (7) —starting team—;

Okobo (16), Moneke (4), Diallo (15), Outtara (3), Hall (6).

Real Madrid: Williams-Goss (3), Hezonja (30), Deck (13), Cornelie (2), Tavares (3) —starting team—;

Causeur (0), Hanga (7), Sergio Rodríguez (2), Poirier (2), Llull (10), Yabusele (9) and Musa (14).

Partials: 20-24, 26-26, 25-20 and 20-25.

Referees: Pukl, Latsevs and Vilius.

They eliminated Poirier.

Salle Gaston Medecin, in Monaco: about 4,600 spectators.

Baskonia beat Panathinaikos

Meanwhile, Baskonia beat Panathinaikos 95-90 and continues in the noble positions of the competition.

The team from Vitoria based their victory on the second quarter (31-15), the only one of the four in which they put the Greek team ahead.

Markus Howard was again the most outstanding player in the local group, with 24 points, followed by Costello with 16 and Marinkovic with 14. At Panathinaikos, Derrick Williams was the top scorer with 19 points.

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