EuroLeague's beat: Monaco's fairy tale, Top 8 field and unstoppable Larkin / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Christina Pahnke, Tolga Adanali, Giuseppe Cottini - Getty Images | BasketNews illustration Credit Christina Pahnke, Tolga Adanali, Giuseppe Cottini - Getty Images | BasketNews illustration

BasketNewscontinues the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague beat edition. Here, you'll be able to find all the info you need about what happened in the latest EuroLeague round.

NBA-material Papagiannis, in-form Maccabi and Monaco, a massive carry by Shane Larkin, Olympiacos' "refuse-to-lose" mentality, sluggish Zalgiris, flying Bayern, and Top 8 picture - all of that and more in this week's EuroLeague Round 33 beat.

EuroLeague's beat Round 33

5 IN 15. When we think about dominant EuroLeague centers, we usually think about Walter Tavares or Jan Vesely. Georgios Papagiannis made it personal on Thursday in a match against Tavares-led Real Madrid. The Panathinaikos OPAP Athens big man was a force to be dealt with in the paint.

The Greek player recorded 5 blocks in the first 15 minutes of the match, thus achieving his career-high. He rejected Guerschon Yabusele twice. Nigel Willaims-Goss, Vincent Poirier, and even Tavares himself got to feel the pain of getting denied by Papagiannis during the match.

Papagiannis finished the game with 18 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 30 PIR points.

NOT THAT POWERFUL.For Real Madrid, things have been going south lately. Since February 6, Los Blancos have accumulated 10 losses over 15 contests across all competitions. Their balance is 3-3 in the ACB League and 2-7 in the EuroLeague.

"If we don't play as a team, it doesn't matter who we cross paths with in the playoffs," Real Madrid head coach Pablo Laso warned after the match against Panathinaikos. "the important thing is to compete well as a team, and we didn't," the coach concluded.

PLAYOFF-BOUND. Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv are EuroLeague playoff-bound! After Russian teams were excluded from the tournament following a Russian invasion and a subsequent war in Ukraine, the Israeli team has been on a roll during the recent weeks.

Maccabi downed league's powerhouses AX Armani Exchange Milan and Real Madrid at home last week and grabbed both wins against Panathinaikos OPAP Athens and LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne this week. The team won 5 of their last 6 games when it mattered the most, and they can now reap the rewards of their effort.

WE ARE BIGGER. LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne are known for their two big men under the basket. Both Youssoupha Fall and Victor Wembanyama are 2.21-meter and 2.20-meter tall respectively. However, it was not their night against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv on Thursday.

Ante Zizic and Jalen Reynolds dominated under the rim, while Wembanyama and Fall struggled mightily. The French duo combined for 7 points, 5 rebounds, and -2 PIR points during the match. Zizic and Reynolds, on the other end, combined for 39 points, 9 rebounds, and 46 PIR points.

THE RUN. After Mike James missed his sixth three-pointer of the match, there were 6 minutes to play in the 3rd quarter with AS Monaco trailing AX Armani Exchange Milan by 11 points. Then, everything changed.

Monaco went on a staggering 20-1 run to end the quarter. Every single player on the court made a contribution during the stretch. Paris Lee made a couple of three-pointers, Dwayne Bacon added a two-plus-one and a three, Donta Hall ruled the paint, Mike James was the floor general, while Will Thomas was the glue that tied everything together.

FIELD GOAL MACHINE. Donta Hall is a human highlight machine. It seems like he can from anywhere on the court anytime he wants. Well, he's an efficiency machine now as well.

In Monaco's last 4 games, Hall has accumulated 18/18 on 2-point shots (24/25 in the last six), and 13/14 on free throws. Overall, the emphatic center shoots two-pointers with a whopping 76.1% accuracy during the season.

HONORING KILL BILL. Vassilis Spanoulis is one of the EuroLeague's all-time greats. The current leader in total points scored in the tournament was honored during Milan's home match against Monaco.

The legendary point guard was greeted with roaring applause - a well-deserved moment for a player who is greatly regarded not only in his home country of Greece.

GAME SAVIOR. Shorthanded Anadolu Efes came from behind to beat ALBA Berlin at home. This win qualified the reigning champs for the upcoming playoffs. The main part of this success? No question, Shane Larkin.

The agile guard put on a show for the winners, registering a season-high 28 points (4/9 2PT, 6/11 3PT, 2/2 FT), 8 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, and 36 PIR.

"We had some players out, Vasa [Vasilije Micic] was out, Rodri [Rodrigue Beaubois] was sidelined, so I just tried to step up and help the team in any way that I could, and it just went in my favor tonight," Larkin said post-game.

Ergin Ataman also knew, who made the difference on Friday night: "Without Micic and Beaubois in our system, Larkin was the only player who could open the door. If he didn't play like this, we would have lost the game."

SECRET TRICK. Shane Larkin came out as a cheat code. But we cannot underappreciate Ergin Ataman's key tactical change to unleash him.

"In the second half, we changed the matchups a little bit. Larkin was playing on Maodo Lo, who was exhausting him. So we decided to put Elijah Bryant on Lo, and Larkin saved some energy," Ataman explained after the match.

KING. Anadolu Efes did better than ALBA in all the hustle stats. The Turkish powerhouse finished the game with 5 blocked shots. Bryant Dunston had 3 of them, becoming the first player to break the 300-mark in EuroLeague history.

HISTORICAL MOMENT. With Efes' win over ALBA, AS Monaco got a ticket to the EuroLeague playoffs. For the Roca Team, this is a historical point since they became the first squad coming from the EuroCup to qualify for the EuroLeague Top 8 in their first season of the competition.

CHARACTER STATEMENT. Shaquielle McKissic-powered Olympiacos, which played without Kostas Sloukas and Moustapha Fall, stood tall against Barcelona and secured their Top 3 finish.

"We just played hard in the second half. The coach put together a game plan and it worked out for us tonight. We wanted to send a message and I think we did," McKissic spoke post-game.

For the second place, Olympiacos require either the victories of both Milan and Madrid or at least the defeat of Real.

PLAYOFFS– NO JOKE. According to Georgios Bartzokas, the EuroLeague playoffs are a whole different animal, compared to the regular season. Therefore Oly must be ready to fight.

"The playoffs are a completely different story than the regular season. The level of tension rises. The game is played with a lot of contact, as the playoffs should be," he warned.

"All teams that have made the playoffs are very good, and we will have to show a fighting spirit. Teams come to the playoffs without much pressure because suddenly their season starts again. That's why they're very dangerous."

FROM START TO FINISH. Baskonia stormed out of the gate against Zalgiris, outscoring the visitors 35-15 in the first quarter en route to a crushing 96-79 victory.

Those 35 points were the third-most Baskonia have ever dropped in the first quarter of EuroLeague action, but the way they were scored was even more impressive: the hosts made 9-of-10 two-point shots, 4-of-5 three-pointers, and 5-of-6 free throws during the first 10 minutes. Moreover, the Basques had 13 assists and no turnovers in a terrific stretch.

Words by Zalgiris' Lukas Lekavicius summed up the duel better than everything else: "The complete tragedy."

HUGE ACHIEVEMENT. Bayern Munich recorded an 82-57 home victory against Crvena Zvezda, allowing coach Andrea Trinchieri's team to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

"Last year was an amazing run with the playoffs. This year was very different, but being here to comment on two playoffs in a row is a huge achievement for this organization. This year, it was really difficult because the road was not smooth like last year, it was very bumpy," commented the Italian specialist.

TOP 8 SQUADS. Bayern became the last team to secure a place in the EuroLeague playoffs. With their win, the whole playoffs participants got cleared: Barcelona, Olympiacos, Real, Milan, Anadolu Efes, Maccabi, Monaco, and Bayern.

TOP Plays of Round 33

Records of Round 33

PIR Shane Larkin

Shane Larkin (36)

Points Shane Larkin

Shane Larkin (28)

Rebounds Walter Tavares

Walter Tavares (12)

Assists Jayson Granger

Jayson Granger (9)

Steals Scottie Wilbekin

Scottie Wilbekin,Shane Larkin (4 each)

Blocks Georgios Papagiannis

Georgios Papagiannis(5)

3-pointers made Shane Larkin Shane Larkin (6)

Results of Round 33

Panathinaikos Athens Real Madrid 87-86 Maccabi Tel Aviv LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 94-73 AX Armani Exchange Milan Monaco Basket 63-72 Anadolu Efes Istanbul ALBA Berlin 87-77 Olympiakos Piraeus FC Barcelona 73-66 FC Bayern Munich Crvena Zvezda Belgrade 82-57 Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz Zalgiris Kaunas 96-79

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