“Everything that is happening is internal [matter]. In our house,” Sasa Obradovic said about the argument with Mike James during a final timeout.
FC Barcelona won its fourth straight EuroLeague game on Friday night, taking down the visiting AS Monaco 80-70 at Palau Blaugrana. It might be a key win in a race for home-court advantage in the playoffs, as Barca swept Monaco and improved to a 17-8 record in third place. The visitors, meanwhile, dropped to 15-10, and now rank fifth.
After Mike James‘ two-pointer that cut Monaco’s deficit to just three points (62-65) with 5:40 left in the fourth quarter, Barcelona, who was controlling the game for almost an entire time, seemed to start wobbling.
Yet, that was not the case. The Catalans went on a 15-8 run to finish the match.
Following the midpoint of the fourth tally, Monaco missed some important shots and made costly errors.
“Small things decided [the outcome] in the end. We did not execute in the last quarter when it was important,” coach Sasa Obradovic said post-game.
Turnovers and defensive failures not only made Obradovic grab his head but also frustrated Monaco star Mike James.
When Cory Higgins made a two-point basket and increased Barca’s lead to 11 points (76-65) with 1:50 left, James furiously threw the ball against the basket support.
James and the company then went for a timeout where Monaco’s leader and coach Obradovic had an argument.
“There is no comment on this. Everything that is happening is internal [matter]. In our house,” Obradovic said about the situation in the post-game conference.
After the timeout, James stayed on the court and played until the very last second.
The 32-year-old guard finished the game with 14 points (6/9 2PT, 0/2 3PT, 2/2 FT), 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 turnovers, and 15 PIR.
Source: basket news
