Monaco is already falling, the dark Asvel
Monaco let slip the victory at the end of the match against Zenit Saint Petersburg at home (85-74), just before the heavy defeat of Asvel in Greece against Olympiakos (89-54), Thursday during the 16th day of Euroleague.
ASM relapsed after its success Wednesday in Kaunas (107-98), while Villeurbanne chained a fourth straight setback in European competition.
Led by 7 points after one minute of play, and 17 at the end of the first quarter, the Monegasques missed out on their start to the match, as was the case in Milan (71-65) during the 14th day .
The Roca Team gradually returned to contact just before half-time, in the wake of a successful Dwayne Bacon (21 pts). But like his American winger, the players of Sasa Obradovic, who succeeded Zvezdan Mitrovic on Monday on the Monegasque bench, lacked until the end of the meeting, going from a four-point lead to a deficit of eleven in less than six minutes.
Mike James, who came out of a big performance (20 points, 14 assists) against Zalgiris Kaunas, broke down offensively (3 of 9 shooting) and lost four balls.
The Rocher club (14th, 6 wins 10 losses) is losing ground in the fight for the top 8.
In the process, Asvel exploded in Greek soil against Olympiakos. Already ten points apart at the end of the first quarter, TJ Parker’s players then sank, up to 36 points behind.
The usual playing master of the French club Elie Okobo (3 of 9 shooting) did not find the solution to the well-established defense of the Greeks. The efforts of Dylan Osetkowski (13 pts), Youssoupha Fall (11 pts) and Marcus Knight (11 pts) were insufficient in the face of an offensive armada from Olympiakos too easy, like Tyler Dorsey (19 points in 20 minutes ).
The French hope of Asvel Victor Wembanyama did not play.
Villeurbanne remains in the soft underbelly of the standings (7 wins, 9 losses) despite a very good start to the campaign.
At the end of the first leg of the competition, Monaco will go to Berlin to challenge the Alba (15th), and Asvel will welcome Fenerbahçe (10th).