By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
After losing to Zalgiris, Real Madrid (10-5) is back in the winning column. ASVEL (6-9) was coming from three great wins but didn’t have a chance in Madrid.
Real controlled the game and had no problems getting an important 92-73 triumph.
Vincente Poirier led the way with 19 points, and Dzanan Musa added 15. For ASVEL, Amine Noua scored 17 points.
“We were able to steal 10 balls and were able to turn the ball over only seven times. We played as a team, assisting 19 times, so it’s good but this is the way we share the ball more. It was good, probably we are not shooting the best, but it is good to know that we are winning with this difference without scoring from outside. We did a good job, all game, today. Sometimes the games in EuroLeague are tight and we have to prevent these situations, of course, but there will be more tight games until the end, and we have to be ready to win this kind of game“, Real Madrid coach Chus Mateo said.
Gabriel Deck was looking like Messi, scoring 10 points in just five minutes in the first half and that was enough to knock down ASVEL. The French team had no answers on defense, and when Dzanan Musa caught fire and scored 11 points, the Spanish team had a comfortable 11-point lead at the half (45-34).
“I wanted to come here and help the team win, but I am happy that the coaching staff in Real Madrid gave me that opportunity to be on the court a lot, to have set plays for me, so I am really grateful about that. I think we did great. As Coach and Vince [Poirier] said, we shared the ball well, played defense, played fun basketball, and as you saw, we scored 92 points, so that’s good for us. We played good defense and in the new year, we have to go even stronger than this“, Musa said after the game.
The French team tried to come back. They scored 25 points in the third quarter, but on defense, they simply could not get stops and that is the main reason ASVEL lost this game. Real open the fourth quarter with an 11-0 run (81-59) to seal the deal.
“We have to keep going. This is just one game. We have been playing really well in the past few weeks. After that, congrats to Real Madrid, they played a good game. It didn’t seem like we had the energy that we used to have in other games. We have to put this one behind and go forward“, ASVEL coach TJ Parker admitted.