The trio combined for 71 points and 96 PIR to lead ASVEL to a 93-79 victory over Zalgiris.
Fall, Lee and Luwawu-Cabarrot’s career nights lifted ASVEL to first home win
The fans of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne were finally able to celebrate a win by their team at their home court. They had to wait till Round 19 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague after witnessing nine consecutive home losses before Thursday night.
But, this time, the ones who exited the Astroballe with a smile on their face were not the visitors, but the locals. ASVEL had a strong performance against Zalgiris and secured the win with authority, building double-digit leads early in the first quarter and never trailing.
One of the reasons that explained such a dominant display was the extraordinary contribution of its starting five, as it provided 85 points, against only 8 coming from the bench. Among them were Paris Lee, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Youssoupha Fall all registering career nights.
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Lee finished with 22 points and 8 rebounds for a PIR of 31, which was the best in his Euroleague career. Luwawu Cabarrot posted career-highs in points (27) and PIR (29), while Fall recorded a double-double of 22 points and 12 boards that elevated him to a career-high PIR of 36.
Fall was especially relieved when asked about the meaning of this home win, after such a long period: “It's really good for the mentality because we lost a lot of close games, and it was tough for everybody”, he admitted. “This one is really good for us and for the fans, you know. We will keep going and try to win the most games possible”.
Luwawu-Cabarrot was also happy after clinching the win for the fans. “We've been waiting a long time, but I think we did a great job from the beginning to the end,” he celebrated. “It feels good to win again in front of our fans.”
The feeling was even sweeter than the one he had in the previous 88-91 win against Zalgiris in Kaunas, as Luwawu-Cabarrot also finished as the team’s best scorer with 19 points. “They found me, my teammates found me”, he explained. “I made threes and I felt good going to the basket and shooting mid-range. So, I mean, it was great today.”
Asked about how comfortable he feels against the Lithuanian powerhouse, he praised his opponent’s spirit. “It was not easy against Kaunas. They never gave up. It was tough towards the end. They were more aggressive, but we stayed together. Of course, we stayed focused, and our game plan was great”, he explained. “We knew what they were doing in defense and we had the answers. I feel like we were playing great defense.”