The home team’s guard stayed humble after a memorable victory, crediting others for a majestic result
Clutch Paris Lee gave ASVEL first win over Real in more than 20 years
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Regular Season
Round 13 of 34
Group Regular Season
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LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne enjoyed a night that will long be remembered by the French team’s passionate fans, having conjured an 80-78 home win over Real Madrid – the club’s first over the Spanish giant since 2003.
ASVEL prevailed 77-85 on the road on that occasion, but there was a special flavor to Tuesday’s triumph in the club’s brand-new LDLC Arena as it came in the most dramatic fashion.
Paris Lee sank a buzzer-beating floater from the baseline to spark wild celebrations among home fans and players, including head coach Pierric Poupet who got so elated that he later apologized in his post-game comments for failing to shake hands with the opposition.
There was no malicious intent on Coach Poupet’s part, whose courtside demeanor after the absorbing contest was sincere as he referred to Real as a class act on and off the court. The stature of the most trophy-laden team in EuroLeague history made ASVEL’s victory that much sweeter and Poupet made it clear how much it meant to the hosts.
“It’s been more than 20 years and it’s a huge, huge win for us, as we showed character,” Poupet said. “We played well in the first half, dug ourselves into a hole in the second and then came back, hitting a big shot in the end. We’ve now won two in a row and that’s a big accomplishment in the EuroLeague, so we want to keep competing and improving,” he added.
Lee emerged as the hero but his last-gasp winner was facilitated by a crunch contribution from Andre Roberson in the final 2 seconds of the game and by yet another majestic performance from Theo Maledon, who netted a game-high 23 points.
Roberson blocked Facundo Campazzo’s layup which would have likely won the game for Real before dishing out an assist from a sid eout to Lee, who delivered with a delicious floater from a tight angle.
“I want to give a shout out to my teammates, they were unbelievable,” said Lee. “A big shout to Dre [Andre Roberson] for getting that block and a really big one to Theo [Maledon]. He’s been having a lot of attention on him and he literally brought us towards the promised land by himself in the end. That set me up to hit the shot. With this kind of win, we build chemistry and the important thing is that we find consistency and keep going.”
Maledon, who was 18 months old the last time ASVEL beat Real, kept the French team alive with a brilliant fourth quarter as he mixed audacious layups through traffic with deep threes to engineer the final twist when Real looked the more likely winner.
Maledon’s heroics helped ASVEL improve to 5-8 while Real’s patchy form continued as last season’s EuroLeague runner-up slipped to 6-7, with the 23-year-old guard elated with the outcome.
“We were able to fight back and give ourselves a chance to win the game and Paris did the job in the end,” said Maledon. “We just kept going, we knew there was plenty of time to come back and that’s what we did. It’s amazing to break their winning streak over us.”
In Round 14, ASVEL visits EA7 Emporio Armani Milan while Real takes on Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul at home in what should be a mouth-watering blockbuster.