Monaco triumphs in lone Euroleague Wednesday game

The second half of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season began with a solitary Wednesday game in Round 18 that saw AS Monaco defeat Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 82-76. The final games of the calendar year will be played on Thursday. Among the highlights, UNICS Kazan will get things going when it hosts defending champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul, and FC Barcelona will put its nine-game winning streak on the line against Spanish rival Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz.

AS Monaco 82-76 Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv

AS Monaco finished a banner year in club history by holding off Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 82-76 on Wednesday night at Salle Gaston Medecin. 2021 saw Monaco win the 7DAYS EuroCup and make its Turkish Airlines EuroLeague debut. It will head into 2022 with a 7-11 record after outscoring Maccabi in each of the final three quarters to snap a two-game slide. Donatas Motiejunas and Alpha Diallo scored 16 points apiece to lead the winners. Mike James tallied 12 points and 13 assists, Dwayne Bacon added 11 points, and Leo Westermann, in his first game back in over a month, netted 10 points. Scottie Wilbekin scored 31 points, and Ante Zizic added 10 points and seven rebounds for Maccabi, which lost its eighth straight game and fell to 7-11.