2023 Euroleague Final Four: Olympiacos vs. AS Monaco Preview, Odds, Lines, Prediction, Picks
Olympiacos and AS Monaco had an interesting battle last year in the Top 8 stage, and destiny put them together again, only this time in 2023 Final Four. The Greek and the French unit will battle for the finals and the chance to win the continental title, Oly’s fourth, and Monaco’s first. Olympiacos is the favorite coming into this event, ending first after the regular part of the season. Monaco was fourth, being highly unpredictable yet showing high quality.
- Olympiacos Odds -200
- AS Monaco Odds +190
- Spread Olympiacos -5.5
- Over/Under 158.5
Here is the preview for the second 2023 EuroLeague semifinals Barcelona vs. Real Madrid.
Olympiacos (-200) had to go through five games in the Top 8 stage against Fenerbahce. They would lose Game 2 at home but respond to beat Fener in Istanbul in Game 3, with Kostas Sloukas hitting a buzzer-beating three and silencing the arena. By the way, Sloukas was one of Fener’s best players for several years.
They didn’t have too many obligations after that, and the only game played was against PAOK in the semis of the Greek league. Of course, the red-and-whites from Piraeus won 83-65.
Oly has arguably the best player in the EuroLeague, Sasha Vezenkov, who had the highest PIR per game during the regular part of the year, 21.2, scoring 17.2 points each night, a league-high. The Bulgarian had 6.8 boards and was the second-best rebounder in EuroLeague.
After five games of excruciating effort, Monaco (+190) eliminated Maccabi in the Top 8 stage. Maccabi won the opening meeting in Monte Carlo, but after that, Monaco responded with back-to-back victories, which boosted their morale, thus saving the season.
The French unit has a very athletic team, with plenty of very explosive and physically gifted players. That’s why Monaco has the most offensive rebounds per game in EuroLeague, 12.3. Sasa Obradovic‘s unit has the most two-pointers per game made in the competition, with 22.6.
Mike James is the top scorer of the unit, with 16.2 points, while Elie Okobo adds 12.5. Both are very aggressive and constantly attack the rim, so Monaco draws a lot of fouls, which puts the rivals in a problem.
Olympiacos is ready to face Monaco with all the players 100% fit for the upcoming event.
James had small issues with his heel, but he will be ready for the semis. Monaco’s top scorer stated that it was nothing serious and that he wanted to rest and prevent any complications before the most important game of the campaign.
Head-to-Head Games
Monaco won both games during the regular part of the EuroLeague season. The first meeting was in Greece, late October 81-76. Okobo had 23 points, and Mike James added 20. Monaco defeated Oly in Monte Carlo, 64-60, despite having a double-digit deficit during the first half. James had 19 points, while Alec Peters delivered 12 for the guests and was the top-scorer for Olympiacos.
Predictions
The Over/Under line for this event is 158.5 points, which is, in our opinion, too many. Both of the regular-season events have ended under this limit, and given that this game carries a lot of pressure due to high stakes, we would go with Under again. The odds are set at -110. Regarding the winner of the game, that’s awfully tough to predict, and the best possible decision here would be to avoid doing that.
