ASVEL won three quarters against Real but lost the game: what happened?
Real Madrid's strong first quarter made the difference against ASVEL
Article
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 30 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Real Madrid downed LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 81-70 at home in Round 30. It managed to get a quick lead, threatening several club records in the process, and keep a safe margin all the way until the final buzzer.
Real found an early advantage in the paint and went for it right away. Walter Tavares dunked twice, drew a couple of shooting fouls and made all 4 attempts, and added a left-handed jump hook and a floater for 12 points in a 15-0 opening run. It was Real's second-best start ever in a EuroLeague game. Los Blancos had a 17-0 run against Anadolu Efes Istanbul to start Game 4 of the 2021 playoffs, which turned into an 82-76 victory.
Tavares had a PIR of 19 when he went to the bench with more than 3 minutes left in the first quarter. Only two players this season have had a higher first-quarter PIR: Kendrick Nunn of Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens with 24 against EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in Round 16 and Olympiacos Piraeus forward Sasha Vezenkov with 20 against Paris Basketball in Round 25.
Real was far from done, as many players kept contributing in the opening 10 minutes. Andres Feliz buried a three-pointer and Sergio Llull struck twice from downtown. At the end of the first quarter, Real led ASVEL 32-10. That 22-point first-quarter difference is the second-biggest in club history. The record came on January 10, 2002, when Real built a 37-11 lead against Zadar after 10 minutes. Olympiacos Piraeus holds the EuroLeague record with a 35-8 first quarter against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv on November 19, 2021.
Los Blancos made 6 of 9 two-pointers, 4 of 7 three-pointers and 8 of 11 free throws, outrebounded ASVEL 10-6 and forced the visitors into 8 turnovers. Real only had 1 turnover and dished 7 assists. The teams' PIR at that moment said it all: Real had a first-quarter PIR of 49 and ASVEL a PIR of -3.
ASVEL went on to win the next three quarters (20-24, 16-19, 13-17) but Real did a good job to stay away from trouble until the final buzzer. In less than 19 minutes, Tavares had 23 points on 9-of-12 two-point shooting and 5-of-5 on free throws, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 4 fouls drawn for a PIR of 28. Llull had 12 points and finished the game in style with a buzzer-beating, 10-meter three-pointers in the next-to-last minute.
Game Videos
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"We have to win every game and now we have four finals [ahead of us]. We are going to try to play our best to try to win all the games in front of us. That's the main goal for us: to be in the playoffs and reach the Final Four," Tavares said after the game. "All Real players have the pressure of being on the big stage every year. We are super motivated to reach that level and have a responsibility to win, because Real Madrid means winning."
"We had a very good first quarter and got a very big lead. And then, of course, they tried to come back. They are a very good team, especially their backcourt players, shooting from outside. We lost some rebounds and were a little bit confused with their alternative defenses," Real head coach Chus Mateo said. "We stopped our offense a little bit but anyway, we are happy because we needed to win this game, and we have four more games to go."
Half of those four games will be played in Serbia, as Real faces Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade in Round 32 and Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade in Round 34. It also has games against EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in Round 31 and Paris Basketball in Round 33.