By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Zalgiris Kaunas outran LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne with a second-half comeback to grab an 83-74 victory on the road in Round 6 of the new Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.
After being down 50-41 at halftime against victory starved ASVEL, the visitors turned the tables of the game in the third period, paced behind Marius Grigonis’ performance. The Lithuanian shooting guard had a new career-high with 25 points, three assists and two rebounds, leading all Zalgiris scorers. He also broke his personal best PIR with 27 (previously 23) against the French team.
Lukas Lekavicius complemented Grigonis’ efforts in the fourth period and finished the game with 13 points, Thomas Walkup, and Martinas Geben followed with 11 and 9 points each and Joffrey Lauvergne tapped 6 points.
Zalgiris put behind a challenging first half and achieved its fifth victory in six games, recovering from last week’s defeat against Valencia to remain on top of the competition’s standings.
ASVEL returned to its EuroLeague duties after a three-round absence due to several COVID-19 cases in the team and has yet to register a win into the new season, and coach Martin Schiller gave credit to the opposing team for their effort.
“I will say that our respect goes out to ASVEL and Coach Parker and the players. That’s a super difficult situation and I have really a lot of respect. That was a really hard fight and we’re happy to get out of here with a win”, he mentioned after the game.
Charles Kahudi led TJ Parker’s squad with 18 points and two boards, Guerschon Yabusele and David Lighty added 17 and 16 points respectively
Photo: EuroLeague