2021-22Regular SeasonRound 1
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 88
Zalgiris Kaunas 76
October 01, 2021 CET: 20:00
Local time: 20:00 ASTROBALLE

Okobo leads ASVEL past Zalgiris

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne started the new 2021-22 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season in style on Friday, defeating visiting Zalgiris Kaunas 88-76 before its appreciative fans at the Astroballe. ASVEL, which trailed for only one possession in the opening minute of the game, took control with 4 consecutive three-pointers early in the second quarter, and took the lead for good with 3 more in a row midway through the third. ASVEL shot 11-for-23 from downtown for the night, led by Elie Okobo who scored 23 points in 24 minutes. Chris Jones had 14 points, 6 assists and 3 steals, Youssoupha Fall collected 12 points plus 9 rebounds, while Charles Kahudi scored 11 in victory. Janis Strelnieks netted 21 for Zalgiris while Emmanuel Mudiay scored 12.

Okobo had a three-point play early and William Howard knocked down a triple for ASVEL, but Strelnieks hit a pair from downtown to help the visitors tie at 10-10. Fall had 2 put-backs and Okobo a corner triple that helped ASVEL lead 19-16 after 10 minutes. Back-to-back triples from Paul Lacombe and Kahudi opened 31-23 difference before Okobo hit back-to-back long-range daggers, including one in transition at 38-25. Strelnieks answered with a one-footed step-back triple, sparking a 2-8 run which Mudiay capped with his own shot from deep. Streleniks hit his fourth three-pointer to make it 44-36 at halftime.

Edgaras Ulanovas and Strelnieks took it inside and Joffrey Lauvergne had a put-back dunk early in the third quarter. Tyler Cavanaugh and Josh Nebo tied it 50-50 for Zalgiris midway through the third, but ASVEL replied with back-to-back threes from Jones and Antoine Diot before Jones nailed a second-chance shot from downtown to re-open a 59-50 edge. The hosts took a 63-55 lead into the fourth quarter then opened it further with a 13-1 run. Diot sparked things with a corner triple, then set up Kostas Antetokounmpo for a monster alley-oop dunk. Kahudi followed with a three-point play and a triple before Antetokounmpo's put-back dunk made it 76-56. Strelnieks kept Zalgiris alive with 7 consecutive points before a triple apiece from Niels Giffey and Ulanovas helped get the visitors within 80-71 with 4:00 to go. However, Okobo, Jones and Fall scored the next 6 points, sealing the deal.

No-miss Okobo

It was some debut for ASVEL scoring guard Elie Okobo who scored a game-high 23 points by shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from two-point range and 3-for-3 from downtown. The only miss on the night for the 23-year-old came from the free-throw line, where he made 2 of his 3 shots.

Key stat

ASVEL's rebounding advantage played a key role in this contest. ASVEL pulled down 35 rebounds to Zalgiris's 26, and the difference was even more significant through the first three quarters when ASVLE led 29-18 in that segment.

ASVEL offense clicking

The last two seasons, Zalgiris headed home victorious after visiting the Astroballe, and each time it allowed just 74 points in its victories. ASVEL's 88 points on this night are tied for the club's second-most points scored in a season opener this century.

Long-awaited debut

Teenage phenomenon Victor Wembanyama made his EuroLeague debut, playing 3:23 minutes in the first half. He missed his only shot, and committed 2 turnovers, but the 2.20-meter center also delivered his very first blocked shot of his EuroLeague career.

Next up

Next week Zalgiris opens Round 2 by hosting Zenit St Petersburg on Thursday, while ASVEL travels to play ALBA Berlin on Friday.

Antoine Diot - LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne - EB21
Friday, October 1, 2021
Euroleague.net
Referees: PUKL,SASA; PANTHER, ANNE; CORTES, CARLOS
Attendance: 4215
By Quarter1234
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne19251925
Zalgiris Kaunas16201921
End of Quarter1234
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne19446388
Zalgiris Kaunas16365576
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 OKOBO, ELIE 24:30 23 6/6 3/3 2/3   2 2 1   2     2 3 24
1 WEMBANYAMA, VICTOR 3:23   0/1               2 1       -2
3 JONES, CHRIS 29:57 14 4/6 2/5 0/2   3 3 6 3       2 1 18
5 KAHUDI, CHARLES 23:11 11 2/3 2/4 1/1 1 3 4 1         1 1 13
6 LACOMBE, PAUL 15:23 5 1/3 1/2   2   2   3 1     1   5
8 DIOT, ANTOINE 14:42 8 0/1 2/3 2/2 2 1 3 2 1 1     3 1 9
19 FALL, YOUSSOUPHA 24:00 12 6/9     3 6 9 1   1     3 4 19
21 OSETKOWSKI, DYLAN 18:48 2 0/3 0/3 2/2   4 4 1           1 2
25 HOWARD, WILLIAM 25:25 7 2/2 1/2   1   1 1 2 1     2 1 8
28 HOUINSOU, KYMANY 0:24                              
32 STRAZEL, MATTHEW 10:03   0/1       1 1 1   1     3 1 -2
37 ANTETOKOUNMPO, KOSTAS 10:14 6 3/5 0/1   1 1 2   1 2     2 2 4
Team             4 4     2         2
Totals 200:00 88 24/40 11/23 7/10 10 25 35 14 10 13 1 0 19 15 100
        60% 47.8% 70%
Head coach: PARKER, TJ
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Zalgiris Kaunas
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 BLAZEVIC, MAREK 1:28 2 1/1                         2
4 LEKAVICIUS, LUKAS 15:25 8 3/5   2/2       1 1 2       3 9
7 NEBO, JOSH 16:22 5 2/2   1/2 2   2 2         2 1 7
8 MUDIAY, EMMANUEL 28:23 12 3/8 1/2 3/4 2 2 4 2 1 5       3 10
9 KALNIETIS, MANTAS 10:09 2     2/2   2 2 2         1 2 7
16 LUKOSIUNAS, KAROLIS 0:59                              
21 MILAKNIS, ARTURAS 13:28 2 0/1 0/3 2/2                 1 1 -2
32 STRELNIEKS, JANIS 24:07 21 2/3 4/6 5/6 1 2 3 1 1       3 4 23
34 CAVANAUGH, TYLER 20:18 4 1/2 0/2 2/2   1 1 3 2 1       2 8
55 GIFFEY, NIELS 21:54 8 1/5 2/3   3 4 7     1   1 3   5
77 LAUVERGNE, JOFFREY 19:58 7 3/7   1/2 2 2 4 1 1 2     3 1 4
92 ULANOVAS, EDGARAS 27:29 5 1/3 1/4 0/2   1 1 2   1     2 2  
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 76 17/37 8/20 18/24 11 15 26 14 6 12 0 1 15 19 75
        45.9% 40% 75%
Head coach: SCHILLER, MARTIN

Head Coaches

PARKER, TJ
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
“We made stops when we needed them. At certain points, stop after stop after stop. We shared the ball really well in the second half with extra passes. We made shots down the stretch. It was a good team win. Elie Okobo and Chris Jones are the top two choices to run the backcourt this year in ASVEL. I have full confidence in them. Elie was excited, he did not play in a long time, and he had a great game. But it is a long season.”
SCHILLER, MARTIN
Zalgiris Kaunas
“Congratulations to ASVEL for the win. Very deserved, no question about that. To me, it was a big challenge to cope with the aggression. We could not bring the aggression. They brought the aggression on both ends of the basketball. I thought that when we closed the game to 50-50 after halftime, it was a pretty good reaction. ASVEL took a timeout and made 3 threes in a row. I thought two of them were pretty tough shots, one off the backboard. But that run right there hurt a lot. Afterwards, came another run. Wish we could have kept that run, could have stopped the bleeding a little earlier, to stick in the game. But no doubts ASVEL deserved to win the basketball game.”

Players

OKOBO, ELIE
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
“It feels good. We wanted to get the first win at home in the EuroLeague. We knew we are playing a good team; obviously, we came out ready to play. We needed to adjust to some little stuff on defense, but we can see offensively that we get what we need when we bring energy on defensive end. We have good chemistry. All the guys know their roles. We are playing the right way. We are unselfish, we have a good group of guys, and the coaching staff is doing a great job.”
JONES, CHRIS
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
“The difference was getting stops, tightening down on our defense to get out running in transition. We know it was going to be a tough game, the first EuroLeague game. But us getting stops and running in transition helped us a lot. I feel good. Credit to my teammates. Getting good screens, I got shooters around me. We are building our bond and our chemistry, so it will get better throughout the season.”
MUDIAY, EMMANUEL
Zalgiris Kaunas
“Coming out in second half, in the third quarter we played pretty well. And they called a timeout. They hit 3 threes and that was that. That kind of was a defining moment of the game. I had some turnovers as well, that I could have controlled a little more, but that's part of the game. We let them have a lot of threes, that hurt us. We have to figure it out, tried to get to learn each other more and more. It's a lot of new players and a lot of camaraderie-ship that we have to get down.”
STRELNIEKS, JANIS
Zalgiris Kaunas
“A tough one. We have to learn a lot. We did not compete enough defensively. It starts from me. I let [Ellie Okobo] score too many points, enter the paint too easily. I played most of the minutes; it has to start from me, and everybody else after. The season just started, we still have a lot of time, but we have to get better as soon as possible. Our one-on-one defense did not work. We let them enter the paint, and then help was either too late or there was no help. So we have to stay together and build the chemistry in there. When you play good defense, the offense will come. Everything starts from defense. It gives you more confidence and freedom that you can run. Everything starts from defense.”
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