ASVEL easily disposed of Boulogne-Levallois on Tuesday at Astroballe (86-69) and moved up to fourth place in the Betclic Elite ranking. For its part, Le Portel won an important match in view of maintaining against Pau-Lacq-Orthez (78-70).
If Monaco seems on track to finish first in the regular season of Betclic Elite while qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Euroleague (even without Mike James?), ASVEL, which has nothing left to play in Europe , do not despair of finishing second. And the reigning three-time French champions did a great job this Tuesday in a match of the 24th day, by disposing of the Roca Team runner-up, Boulogne-Levallois. TJ Parker’s men won well 86-69, and therefore sent a message to the competition.
For captain Charles Kahudi’s 400th match in the ASVEL jersey, the Villeurbannais signed an almost perfect meeting, where they were only down 2-0 before racing in the lead until the end. In the wake of an excellent Yves Pons, who offered his career points record (17 to 7/8 on shots) and delighted the public with a few dunks, ASVEL widened the gap little by little , leading 20-12 at the end of the first quarter, 47-34 at halftime and 70-49 at the half hour mark, before winning by 17 points. Nando De Colo (17pts) was also excellent, under the eyes of his coach Vincent Collet.
Opposite, it was much more difficult for the Metropolitans, like their star Victor Wembanyama. After receiving his 2022 champion ring, the French basketball prodigy did not manage a match in his usual standard. He certainly scored 15 points, but only 3 of 13 on shots, and grabbed 11 rebounds while countering 3 balls. Tremont Waters (21pts) tried to help him, but was clumsy at 3 points (2/10). It is therefore a heavy defeat for Vincent Collet’s men, who remain second with two wins over Monaco and with three more wins than ASVEL, but with one more match on the clock.
Le Portel gives itself some fresh air
Another Betclic Elite match was held this Tuesday, on behalf of the 23rd day, and Le Portel signed a great operation by beating Pau-Lacq-Orthez 78-70 after leading from start to finish.. The new star of Portel, Nadir Hifi, scored 21 points and took 6 rebounds, while Vitalis Chikoko settled for 12 for the Bearnais. Portel now has one more victory than Nancy, the first to relegate, while Pau has the same record as SLUC.
