ASVEL Villeurbanne left behind their bad performance against Panathinaikos very quickly and ended this double header week with a much needed 63-69 win in Piraeus against Olympiacos. The guests were dominant in the second half, grabbed the rebounds and fired from the perimeter. Olympiacos was a victim of their turnovers and their wrong decisions on offense. What is interesting to see is that Kostas Sloukas only two attempted field goals in the match with only making one!
Guerschon Jabusele was the top scorer for the guests with 19 points while David Lighty added 8. For Olympiacos, Aaron Harrison was the leading scorer with 13 points while Vassilis Spanoulis added 10.
Different tactics in offense
The two teams showed that they wanted to play a different style of basketball with Olympiacos hitting from inside the paint (4/5 2pts) and the guests hitting from the perimeter. Olympiacos led by McKissic’s energy took a short lead early in the quarter but ASVEL’s Norris Cole and David Lighty tied the game (14-14). Sasha Vezenkov was ready to close the first quarter giving Olympiacos a three point lead but Strazel tied it for ASVEL with the triple on the buzzer (17-17).
ASVEL played defense and hit from the perimeter
The hosts managed to tie the game and get their first one-point lead of the match hitting from the perimeter. Olympiacos made some wrong decisions in offense and lost their lead. Aaron Harrison was the man keeping the hosts alive and not letting ASVEL extend their lead. Spanoulis with the triple got the match to a one-point lead for ASVEL (27-28), while ASVEL lost the possession committing the turnover. Octavius Ellis with the dunk gave Olympiacos the lead back (29-28), with ASVEL calling the time out. Norris Cole kept firing for three giving his team a short lead right before Vezenkov tied the score for Olympiacos (31-31). Khaudi extended the lead for the guests but Olympiacos ended the first half trailing by a single point.
ASVEL dominated the third, while Olympiacos counted turnovers
With Olympiacos missing several possessions due to wrong decisions in offense, the guests took advantage of it and extended their lead with Fall. The hosts were missing the rebounds but Shaquielle McKissic and George Printezis were keeping them close. Strazel with the triple extended ASVEL’s lead to 4 points (38-42) while Olympiacos committed consecutive turnovers. Yabusele gave ASVEL a 7-point (38-45) while Olympiacos committed their 10th turnover in such a crucial point. The guests dominated this third quarter getting a 9-point lead which was their largest one and closed the quarter, 42-51.
ASVEL with their confidence up high in the fourth quarter, believed that they could leave Greece at least with one win. Strazel scored for three but McKissic was there to reply for Olympiacos. Aaron Harrison was sent to the free throw line making both of them and so the hosts made a 5-0 run (47-54). Spanoulis with the drive and the 2 point basket forced ASVEL to a time out bringing Olympiacos back within 5 points (49-54).
Their confidence ended it
With their confidence up high from their great third quarter, ASVEL did everything on the court the right way while Olympiacos was fighting for every ball and every single point. Olympiacos could only find score from the free throw line something that made it almost impossible for them to get something more from the game. It’s interesting to see that Kostas Sloukas made his second shot of the match 46 seconds before the end of the match.
