EUROCOUPE 2023/24 – Perfect evening for French basketball! After the JLB’s feat to validate its place at least in the play-offs, Paris BasketBall did the same by surpassing the London Lions, 94-77. Carried by a Nadir Hifi at 26 points, the Parisians took the lead before relying on a strong defense in the second half to compensate for a failing outside address.
The day after Christmas, the Paris BasketBall found his Halle Carpentier with a simple objective: to beat the London Lions to outdistance one of its main rivals in the quest for direct qualification to the quarter-finals. This poster was also an opportunity for the two teams to meet again, two months after an epic first leg won by the Tricolores.
Paris starts strong, the Lions hang on
As always with both teams, the meeting started with an absolutely stifling intensity. Shots are fired quickly and transitions are made at lightning speed. In this game, Paris quickly took the advantage thanks to the monstrous entry into play of Nadir Hifi, author of 9 points in barely two minutes (18-9)! The fireworks are total, and everyone follows in the wake of the Franco-Algerian leader. The Parisians take care of the ball, control the rebound, break the rhythm of the British and score in abundance in all situations. The entry into play of Luke Nelson and a bit of slack will then allow the latter to limit the damage after a quarter (31-22).
However, the Parisian address is at half mast when the second one resumes. Until then locked behind the arc, the Lions find opportunities which are converted to make a first close (39-33). The latter also take advantage of the Parisians’ rapid projections to go for easy baskets. But this is not enough to carry out the switch since the baskets inside, via Collin Malcolm in particular, make it possible to feed the scoring. At the break, the men of Tuomas Iisalo firmly maintain the lead thanks to a last offensive rebound converted by Leon Scratcher. On the other hand, they may regret a faulty address behind the arc, which allows the former Le Mans Matt Morgan and his partners to stay in the game (54-46).
The class of this #2 anyway ????@ParisBasketball x @EuroCup#SKWEEKLive pic.twitter.com/ypwtIeANTa
— SKWEEK (@skweektv) December 26, 2023
The Parisian defense stays the course
The British, on the other hand, will quickly experience a big setback due to the ankle injury suffered by Sam Dekker. As a bonus, Paris steps on the accelerator again with Kratzer still in control. Asphyxiated, the Lions took on water and conceded a scathing 12-2 (66-48). The latter are no longer able to score against an even more aggressive defense, which no longer leaves easy baskets. Cherry on the cake, Nadir Hifi (26 points) is on cloud nine and reaches 20 units with a 7/10 on the shoot in…thirteen minutes of play. The former holder passes through a powerless British defense, and Paris enters the last period with a mattress comfortable in advance, all despite a 1/11 behind the arc in the quarter time (75-60).
The game will then become choppy, which does not favor the offensive rhythm of the Tricolores. The latter experience a big air gap and then rely on their defense to prevent their opponent from making a run. No easy baskets are given. The Lions must therefore go through the line of throws to score, but do not manage to pass the symbolic bar of ten points, the fault of lost balls which the Parisian rear delights in (81-66). Unable to come back, they literally collapse five minutes from the buzzer, and also see Matt Morgan severely twist your ankle in garbage time. Without forcing, Paris therefore secured a large victory by conceding only 31 points over the entire second half, including 11 in the last five minutes.
With an exceptional record of 12 victories for only one defeatthe Parisian club is already guaranteed to take part in the Dams. Better, with three victories ahead of their evening opponent, 3rd in the group, he is in a strong position to obtain a place in the Top 2, synonymous with immediate qualification for the quarter-finals.
How to finish a quarter well? Ask Nadir ????@ParisBasketball x @EuroCup#SKWEEKLive pic.twitter.com/Pk9DHNmHb0
— SKWEEK (@skweektv) December 26, 2023
2023-12-26 22:08:17
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