The home team fired on all cylinders for 25 minutes before taking its foot off the gas.
Partizan dismissed ASVEL with one eye on Belgrade derby
Straipsnis
3 Minutė skaityti
Regular Season
Round 18 of 34
Regular Season
Partizan Mozzart Bet BelgradePAR
9077
LDLC ASVEL VilleurbanneASV
Overview
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Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade breezed to a 90-77 home win over LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne on Tuesday night, improving to 10-8 after a pair of successive defeats, while the French team dropped to 2-16 and remained rooted to the bottom of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings.
It was one-way traffic for 25 minutes as Partizan carved out a 31-point lead midway through the third quarter and then slowed down, allowing ASVEL to slash the deficit.
Thinking of the derby
The home team’s coach Zeljko Obradovic opted to rest most of his starters in the last 15 minutes, with one eye on Thursday’s city derby at Crvena Zvezda Meridian Bet Belgrade, which pulled off a shock 76-85 win at Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul earlier on Tuesday.
Following several nondescript performances, Partizan team captain Kevin Punter produced a vintage display garnished by 22 points, shooting 4-of-5 from downtown and 5-of-9 from two-point territory. The 30-year-old guard pulled all the strings on offense, leading a balanced effort which saw all 12 players on Partizan’s roster chalk up some points.
Frustrating ASVEL with defense
It was Partizan’s ironclad defense which paved the way for a whopping 69-38 lead midway through the third quarter, with the home team giving ASVEL few open looks and protecting its paint impressively.
Once the hosts took their feet off the gas to save some energy for what should be an emotional and rip-roaring clash with Zvezda, ASVEL took advantage to slash the deficit but it was scant consolation for its under-pressure coach Gianmarco Pozzecco.
“The guys never gave up and fought until the end, but it wasn’t enough,” a dejected-looking Pozzecco said in a flash courtside interview after the game. “The game was almost over late in the third quarter and I can only congratulate Partizan and its coaching staff,” he added at the post-game press conference.
Punter and Obradovic readily admitted that having secured an unassailable lead against ASVEL, it was all about managing the minutes on the court as Partizan’s players drifted towards the upcoming showcase matchup with Zvezda.
“The intensity dropped in the fourth quarter because the minds were probably on what’s coming in two days,” said Obradovic. “Once again I want to thank the fans for an incredible atmosphere they created tonight. They keep surprising us. Our aggressive defense and the individual quality of our players was the key to victory.”
Punter added: “A good way to start the new year and we want to keep going. We were focused coming in. We’ve got the derby in two days; it’s going to be a tough game and we have to be locked in.”