Barcelona survives another OT thriller to overcome Monaco

In a physical game that went to overtime, FC Barcelona remained undefeated by edging AS Monaco 81-85 at Salle Gaston Medecin. Will Thomas scored 9 points in the first quarter, and got help from Donta Hall and Donatas Motiejunas to give Monaco a double-digit margin, 22-12, after 10 minutes. Nick Calathes and Brandon Davies stepped up for Barcelona, bringing the guests within 35-31 at halftime. Nico Laprovittola, Davies, Nigel Hayes-Davis and Rolands Smits each struck from beyond the arc to put Barcelona ahead, 52-54, late in the third quarter. Monaco led 74-71 with 20.1 seconds left but Davies followed a layup with a wild put-back basket to force overtime, 75-75, and Calathes, Davies and Cory Higgins made the difference in the extra period. Davies led the winners with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Nikola Mirotic added 14 points while Laprovittola and Calathes each added 12 for Barcelona. Calathes also grabbed 11 rebounds for a double-double. Mike James led Monaco with 16 points. Thomas added 15 and Leo Westermann scored 10. Barcelona improved to 4-0 while Monaco dropped to 2-2.

Motiejunas got Monaco going with a jump hook and Yakuba Ouattara followed a corner three-pointer with an alley-oop slam for a 7-2 lead. Higgins downed a jumper, getting help from Davies and Mirotic to keep Barcelona within 9-8. Motiejunas scored again and Monaco found a new go-to guy in Thomas, who hit a couple of jumpers, added a driving layup and struck from downtown for a 20-12 margin. Hall ignited the crowd with a wild dunk that made it a double-digit game, 22-12, after 10 minutes. Calathes sank one from beyond the arc early in the second quarter and Pierre Oriola scored down low to bring Barcelona within 22-17. Hall took over with a three-point play, Calathes and Paris Lee traded triples and Davies hit a fallaway jumper for a 28-22 score. Ibrahima Fall-Faye sank a jump hook but Kyle Kuric and Hayes-Davis kept the guests as close as 30-26. Davies and Alpha Diallo exchanged layups, and James struck from way downtown to fix the halftime score at 35-31.

Davies kept pacing Barcelona after the break and Calathes bettered Ouatarra's jumper with a three-pointer for a 37-36 deficit. James took over with a coast-to-coast layup and Westermann followed that with a triple off the dribble that restored a 42-36 Monaco margin. Mirotic stepped up with a tip-in and Davies matched James's jumper with a slam, but Thomas gave Monaco fresh air at 46-40. Laprovittola, Davies and Hayes-Davis each hit a three-pointer but Rob Gray kept the hosts ahead, 52-51. Smits joined the three-point shootout to give Barcelona its first lead, 52-54, and Davies made it 54-56 after 30 minutes. Jerry Boutsiele stepped up with a tip-in early in the fourth quarter. Laprovittola answered with two strikes from beyond the arc to give Barcelona a 58-64 margin. Westermann buried a corner three-pointer and Hall made it a two-point game, 62-64, before James and Westermann sank back-to-back triples to make Barcelona stop the game at 68-66. Laprovittola rescued the guests but Alpha Diallo regained Monaco’s lead, 70-69, with 2 minutes remaining. Davies took over with an off-balance basket but Thomas and James made free throws for a 74-71 Monaco lead with 20.1 seconds left. Davies scored down low, Westermann split free throw attempts and Davies forced overtime with a big put-back basket. James missed from way downtown at the buzzer.

Mirotic struck first in overtime with a reverse layup and Calathes added a threeball for a 75-80 Barcelona lead. James dunked but Davies kept his team in charge, 77-82. Thomas banked in a close shot and James got Monaco as close as 81-82 with 1:23 left. Higgins split free throws and went to the line again with 1.5 seconds remaining, burying both attempts to seal the outcome.

Davies dominated in Monaco

FC Barcelona had to battle hard in Monaco to remain undefeated in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, and nobody fought harder than center Brandon Davies, who stepped up in all the crucial moments to make sure his team returned home with a valuable victory. Playing against his former club, Davies was effective in the paint, and his outside shots allowed Barcelona to open the floor, especially in the third quarter, in which the guests took their first lead. Davies also forced overtime with a put-back basket with 2.7 seconds left in regulation. He finished the game with 27 points, matching his career high, plus 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 8 fouls drawn for a PIR of 38, one shy of his personal best.

Calathes's double-double - finally!

Nick Calathes helped FC Barcelona down AS Monaco 81-85 in overtime with a double-double, 12 points and 11 rebounds. It is the 42nd double-double in his EuroLeague career and ranks second all-time in the standings, only trailing Mirsad Turkcan, who had 50. Calathes, however, had all of his previous 41 double-doubles with his former team, Panathinaikos OPAP Athens. This is his first double-double with Barcelona, and it took 45 games to arrive. Calathes was close just two days earlier in Round 3 against Olympiacos Piraeus, finishing the game with 9 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists, but finally recorded a double-double with Barcelona in Round 4.

Stats: turnovers, free throws lead Barcelona to win

It was a really close game at Salle Gaston Medecin and when the dust settled, FC Barcelona had beaten AS Monaco 81-85 to remain undefeated in the competition. The stats were also really close, but a couple of details allowed Barcelona to win the gaeme. The guests hit 10-of-26 three-point shots (38.5%) and Monaco was limited to just 9-of-30 shots from downtown (30.0%). Barcelona limited turnovers to just 8, having previously averaged 14.7 per night in the opening 3 games. At the same time, Monaco gave 12 turnovers. Barcelona also had 15 offensive rebounds, with Brandon Davies taking 6 of those, including the one that allowed him to force overtime.