EuroLeague summary: Valanciunas shines around as Crowder and Mills lead ASVEL to victory

== sync, corrected by elderman == @elder_man

The new EuroLeague season began with everything the fans have been waiting for: two games decided in the final seconds, a giant returning to the main stage and a zebra that captured Europe's attention.

Thursday (24/9): Dubai starts the game against Real Madrid

The opening game has already entered the club's history. Dubai came from behind and beat Real Madrid 78-77. Filip Petrusev's defense in the last possession of the Spanish team sealed the victory at home.

Dwayne Bacon was the name of the night for Dubai, with 24 points, five rebounds and four assists, while McKinley Wright scored 12. On Real's side Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Theo Maledon each had 11 points, whilst Mikael Jantunen and Damian Jones added 10 each.

Still on the farm: Bayern steals victory in Tel Aviv

The match between Hapoel Tel Aviv and Bayern Munich was as close as the first one, with Hopoel failing in their final possessions, Johannes Voigtmann hit the decisive three-pointer to make it 86-84 for Bayern.

Andreas Obst led the Germans with 19 points, Johannes Thiemann added 15, Justinian Jessup scored 11 and Voigtmann finished with 10.

Valanciunas commands the Zalgiris in Belgrade

Also on Thursday, Zalgiris Kaunas opened the season with a win away from home, beating Crvena Zvezda 83-83... best: 83-77 in Belgrade.

Nigel Williams-Goss contributed 14 points and six assists, Carsen Edwards made 13, and Azuolas Tubelis delivered 10 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.

Obradovic receives a party in Athens and eats

In Athens, Zeljko Obradovic was cheered on his return to Panathinaikos and saw his team trample Paris Basketball by 91-72.

Sylvain Francisco led the Greens with 18 points, Mathias Lessort added 15 points and nine rebounds, and Guerschon Yabusele scored 13, Dinos Mitoglou closed with 11 and Lefteris Mantzoukas with 10.

Olympiacos scores in the first leg; Barcelona overcomes problems

In the sixth round of Thursday's matches, reigning champions Olympiacos made a dominant debut at Vitoria: 106-89 over Baskonia.

Jean Montero recorded 15 points, five rebounds and five assists, Tyrique Jones finished with 12 points and eight reboards, and Tyson Ward added 11, AJ Lawson led Baskonia with 20, followed by Tadas Sedekerskis with 15.

At the Palau Blaugrana, Barcelona overcame line-up changes and injury problems to beat Anadolu Efes 89-82, Dario Brizuela scored 20 points, Kevin Punter added 19, while Olek Balcerowski, Umoja Gibson and Justin Robinson finished with 10 each.

Mike James led Efes with 22 points, Dario Saric scored 17 in his return to the EuroLeague, and Matthew Strazel added 12.

The zebra of the night: ASVEL overthrows Maccabi

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the round came from France after being forced to reshuffle their squad twice during the summer, ASVEL beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 84-74.

NBA veteran Jae Crowder led with 19 points, Patty Mills scored 15, Dada Fodzo Mark Owen added 14 and David Lighty closed with 10.

What comes next in the round

Round 1 continues on Friday, September 25th with three games: The first round is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m., followed by the second and third rounds.

• Beşiktaş against Valencia
• Fenerbahçe and Virtus Bologna
• Partizan against Olympique Milan

The first round confirmed the trend of recent years: end-to-end competition and reinforced teams Valanciunas in Zalgiris, Crowder and Mills in ASVEL already making an immediate difference.