Tamir Blatt stars as Maccabi Tel Aviv notches win in Euroleague opener over ASVEL Villeurbanne

Oct 5, 2024 | Holyland Hoops

Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated ASVEL Villeurbanne 89-82 as Tamir Blatt had a career day to lead the yellow-and-blue to the victory in their Euroleague season home opener in Belgrade due to the security situation in Israel. With the game all knotted up at 71-71 thanks to tremendous play by Blatt after thirty minutes, John Dibartolomeo hit a pair of critical 3-pointers to put Maccabi ahead 83-82 with two minutes left and Blatt fed Jaylen Hoard for back-to-back alley-oops to seal the victory for Head Coach Oded Katash’s squad.

Tamir Blatt, Jasiel Rivero, Levi Randolph and Jordan Loyd paced Maccabi early on but Paris Lee, Neal Sako, Theo Malden and Joffrey Lauvergne handed the French side a 31-24 lead after ten minutes of action. Blatt and Loyd continued to keep the hosts close while Jaylen Hoard began to find the basket but Tarik Black dominated the inside while Lee and Lauvergne continued to score to keep ASVEL in front 52-51 at halftime.

Jasiel Rivero – Photo credit: Djordje Kostic


Rivero and Blatt kept scoring for Maccabi as Black and Lee did the same but the yellow-and-blue tied the game up at 71-71 by the end of the third quarter. Villeurbanne continued to lead but a Dibartolomeo corner 3-pointer with 2:08 gave Maccabi a 83-82 lead as Blatt teamed up with Hoard for a pair of alley-oops to finish off the game and hand Katash’s crew the win.

Tamir Blatt – Photo credit: Djordje Kostic


Blatt who was named the MVP of Gameday 1 scored 21 points and dished out 12 assists, while Hoard and Loyd each scored 15 points and Jasiel Rivero put in 11 points in the win. Lauvergne scored 17 points, Lee chipped in with 12 points and Black scored 11 points in the loss.

Maccabi Tel Aviv – Photo credit: Euroleague.net


“We did a great job defensively at the end and that is what won the game for us,” Katash said. “It wasn’t pretty for a lot of minutes but that is normal for this time of the season. We are building something and there is a process and we have to win some games. I liked the character, we stayed there and fought hard. I took a risk to play with 4 guards in the fourth quarter but it worked well for us.”

Tamir Blatt – Photo credit: Djordje Kostic


The MVP of the game and the round Tamir Blatt added, “I feel great. I am really happy for the guys and for the team. It was a great team effort and I’m happy we got the first win. It’s great to play well and I’m happy and the guys really helped me to get to my spots. The most important thing is that we got the win and we move forward.”

Jaylen Hoard – Photo credit: Djordje Kostic


Jaylen Hoard added, “It was very important to start the season well, first Euroleague game and first Euroleague win so that was big time. The whole team contributed and everyone chipped in so it was a really good win. Tamir was telling me be ready, be open and I’m going to look for you for lobs, short passes and stuff like that. So those two lobs at the end shows we have that connection and we have been practicing it a lot.”

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