By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Codi Miller-McIntyre and his passes gave interest in a game that was just a formality but ended up being part of the history books.
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz beat LDLC ASVEL 94-80, however, Miller-McIntyre stole the show with a record number of 12 assists in the first half and a total of 20, a new All-Time EuroLeague record, plus the fourth-ever triple-double in the competition’s history.
Markus Howard with 18 points led a balanced scoring affair with Miller-McIntyre finishing the night having also 11 points and 11 rebounds.
It’s just the 4th-ever triple-double in EuroLeague’s history.
Nikola Vujcic twice did it with Maccabi Tel Aviv. The big man collected 11 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in 2005-06 against Prokom Trefl and followed that with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in 2006-07 versus Olimpija Ljubljana.
The most recent triple-double went to Nick Calathes, who picked up 11 points, 12 rebounds and 18 assists for Panathinaikos in 2018-19 against Buducnost.
As for the previous record in assists, it was held by Facundo Campazzo and Stefan Jovic who have registered 19.
“It means a lot, especially for me, I heard a lot of rumors, a lot of people accusing me of not being a point guard and I hope that people can see now that this is my natural position”, said Miller-McIntyre.
Joffrey Lauvergne returned to action, while Nando De Colo is still out, and scored 16 points for ASVEL, but couldn’t change the big picture.
A one-sided affair
The game ended up being a one-sided affair with Baskonia leading 52-39 by halftime after a partial 29-19 score in the second half.
While ASVEL didn’t let things go, they couldn’t get into sticking distance and the only thrilling thing about the game was Miller-McIntyre’s run to a historic performance.
“For me, ASVEL is a very good team, but in the classification, they are down so everybody expected us to win”, said Baskonia coach Dusko Ivanovic.
The French side remains last in the standings with a 5-21 record, while Baskonia with a solid 14-12 record remains on course at least for the play-ins.
“I am excited we got the win”, said Miller-McIntyre after the game, “I just want to thank the coach and my teammates for believing in me and I am excited to keep going”.