Monaco 78-66 Barça: Euroleague ends in defeat
Barça are coming back from Kaunas disappointed after not only missing out on a place in the final but also losing the consolation match against Monaco. These games are never easy to play, and with Mirotic (15) and Abrines (9) leading the scoring for the Catalans, it is the French side who go home with the honour of at least finishing third.
Monaco looked more plugged into this game from the start. They stormed to +11 in the first period and although Barça looked better in the second, it was not reflected on the scoreboard, with sides going in at the break at 44-28.
5 points in a row from Laprovittola helped to throw Barça back into contention, but just when things were finally clicking from the blaugrana, Monaco fired off on a 12-7 streak to create an even wider gap than ever (60-45).
There was no big reaction from Barça. Monaco were clearly simply more up for this game, eager to secure their best ever finish in Europe, while for Barça, this weekend in Kaunas is something they will need to put behind them as they switch their attention to the ACB play-offs.
MATCH STATS
Mónaco: Brown (2), Loyd (9), Diallo (10), Motiejunas (2), Mike James (3), Okobo (10), Moneke (4), Blossomgame (9), Ouattara (2), Strazel (14), Hall (9), Makoundou (4).
Barça: Satoransky (7), Laprovittola (5), Abrines (9), Mirotic (15), Sanli (2), Vesely (6), Kalinic (4), Tobey (2), Kuric (7), Jokubaitis (-), Sergi Martínez (2), Nnaji (7).
Periods: 24-13 / 20-15 (44-28) / 16-17 (60-45) / 18-21 (78-66).
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