The Monegasque Roca Team, a novice in the queen competition of European basketball, will therefore play a decisive match 5 next Wednesday in the boiling Stade de la Paix et de l'Amitié in Piraeus for a place in the Final 4.
French basketball can thus continue to dream of seeing a third club from France reach the last four of the Euroleague after Limoges (1990, 1993, and 1995) and Villeurbanne (1997).
But Monaco will be forced into the feat against the 14,000 Greek supporters that the Piraeus room can hold.
Under the eyes of Kevin Durant, Olympic champion in August 2021 with Team USA and eliminated from the play-offs with the Brooklyn Nets, the Monegasques fought an intense battle and were able to reverse the match when they were trailing by 11 points at the start of the 3rd quarter (49-38, 23rd).
But under the impetus of Donta Hall, the game's best player with 14 points and 10 rebounds, the Monegasques took control and even escaped by nine points in the last ten minutes (70-61, 32nd).
Olympiakos, with an untenable Kostas Sloukas, returned to contact, for a suspenseful end to the match, five minutes of madness with the Gaston-Médecin public standing.
On a last defense and when they were only one point ahead (78-77), the Monegasques prevented Moustapha Fall from taking the winning shot from two points and forced Sloukas to attempt an impossible shot three points.
"We played well together in defense and we played better than in the previous match (87-83 defeat in Monaco two days earlier, editor's note). The work is not done yet, we still have a match and we know what we have to do," warned Donta Hall.
Appointment is made on Wednesday in Greece.
© 2022 AFP