By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Partizan Belgrade grabbed its first win of the 2023-24 EuroLeague by crushing ASVEL Villeurbanne 88 – 62 on the road.
James Nunnally led a balanced Partizan effort with 17 points, six assists and five rebounds. Zach LeDay scored 13 points and got seven boards, Alen Smailagic dropped 12 points while Kevin Punter had 11 points.
“We had to make up for the performance we had last week. That wasn’t us,” Nunnally said, referring to the defeat of Partizan By Maccabi Tel Aviv. “This game was more like us. We got to play. We got a great group of plays. Use our insticts and rules we had and play. Compete.”
“It was important to keep the concentration we had in the first half,” Partizan coach Zeljko Obradovic said. “Starting everything from our defense and playing smart offensively.”
Frank Jackson scored a team-high 16 points in 21:35 for ASVEL before he got ejected with a second technical foul in the third quarter and his team down 38-67. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (10 points) was the only other ASVEL player in double figures in yet another disappointing display by the French team after the defeat to Crvena Zvezda.
Partizan’s offense took over in the second period (16-26) as the visiting side went to the locker room up 29 – 43. ASVEL didn’t have any answers after the break and found themselves down 38 – 68 after Jackson’s ejection. The game had already been decided since Partizan wasn’t about to give up such a margin and ASVEL was unable to trim it down.
“You can lose, but you can’t lose like that,” ASVEL coach TJ Parker commented. “Back-to-back EuroLeague games by 20.”