A lot of fear, a lot of effort but in the end Olimpia wins 77-76, even with a bit of luck fending off Asvel’s furious comeback from within 14 at the start of the fourth quarter after three quarters of solid basketball, even in difficulties, see the fouls that conditioned the whole game by the big men, Devin Booker who started strong and Bryant Dunston who was excellent in the first half. Olimpia had to play many minutes with small quintets, LeDay with 5, he sorted out the rebounds a bit with the support of Armoni Brooks (10 of which eight in the first half). In the end, he won with the help of fate, but if it had gone badly it would have been an undeserved mockery. This is the third consecutive victory for Olimpia.
THE FIRST HALF – Asvel uses its athleticism and the great quintet – with Seljaas as a small forward -, then thrives on attacking rebounds and two three-pointers, with Glynn Watson immediately effective. Olimpia responds by reading the defense well and attacking it internally, first with two penetrations by Guduric, then with close play by Booker. Two more triples from Watson and Seljaas scored five points for Asvel. Devin Booker’s second foul immediately complicates the management of the rotation. Olimpia, who never scored from three for seven minutes, found two missiles from Flaccadori and Mannion to close the game to within one at 20-19. However, Olimpia leaves three free throws on the table and at the end of the first period is down 22-20. In the second quarter it is a continuous back and forth, opened by a senseless dunk by Brooks and the internal work of Bryant Dunston, before his third foul arrives and then also that of Booker. Meanwhile, Olimpia reached the five-point lead with a triple from Brooks and a three-pointer from Guduric. Asvel responds with Watson’s third triple which is worth another draw while LeDay has to play from the nominal 5 to overcome the foul problems of the big men. So the quintet that ends the second quarter is in the extrasmall version with Shields at 4 together with three guards. Asvel gets back ahead with three free throws converted by Braian Angola, then the small quintet works by sacrificing themselves on the rebound. A jumper from Brooks, then a counterattack closed by Ellis are worth the new plus five which forces Coach Poupet to call a time-out. The lead reaches seven points, then Olimpia is unlucky with two shots, one from three by Guduric, which go in and out. At halftime they lead 42-37.
THE SECOND HALF – Olimpia attacks with order. After a sequence entirely by Guduria they built a ten-point lead, Asvel scored in three consecutive possessions to reduce the gap to six points, then Guduric responded again with an acrobatic three-point play, reinforced shortly after by three consecutive baskets from Ellis, including a triple. The margin reaches 12 points twice, when Booker is penalized for his fourth foul. Then Brooks with a missile and Dunston with two rebounded free throws opened the 14-point gap at the end of the third quarter, 67-53. Olimpia tightens up at the beginning of the quarter, with three consecutive turnovers that include Dunston’s fourth foul, far from the ball. For three minutes, he didn’t score from the field and only benefited from a free throw converted by Brooks. Asvel, in a zone in the fourth period, comes close to within eight with a triple from Angola’s corner. The answer is two free throws by Shields and a basket from underneath by Booker. After the new plus 12, Asvel returns to the assault, taking advantage of Milan’s tiredness. With four minutes left comes Booker’s fifth foul. Olimpia is forced to play the final game with Shields at 4 and LeDay at 5. A triple by Ndiaye reduces the deficit to seven points. Then N’Diaye scores two free throws. Olimpia stops in front of the area. On the plus three, LeDay eliminates Angola at the rim, then lets the team breathe with two free throws. In the last minute, Angola scores 2/2, then on a loose ball Angola scores the minus one on the counterattack. With 11 seconds left, Guduric eludes the defense with a step and shot and digs the plus three. After Poupet’s time-out, Angola scores two quick points. With eight seconds, Olimpia loses the ball, on the instant replay, on the throw-in. Asvel has one last ball. Angola makes a mistake this time, N’Diaye rebounds and dunks but a moment too late and so it’s a victory, 77-76.
