Suddenly the Accor Arena started to roar. The Parisian room, plunged into a gentle lethargy for long minutes, suddenly woke up. Violently. Loudly. Chanting, singing “defense, defense.” While they seemed condemned to a new lesson from the master Monaco – who corrected them 84-62 in the first leg at the beginning of December – the Paris Basketball players fought a nice duel with the Monegasques for a long time on the floor of the Accor Arena in Bercy. The Parisian players, carried by the inevitable Nadir Hifi, achieved an improbable end to the match, picking up the score and – almost – shaking the Rock armada in the final moments.
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The Roca Team backcourt delighted the public at the Accor Arena this evening! ????#SKWEEKLive #BetclicELITE pic.twitter.com/PueQzPIgLA
— SKWEEK (@skweektv) January 13, 2024
But the last stand ultimately proved in vain. Despite this great final reaction, there was no comeback. In front of 12,090 spectators – club record -, including former NBA Frenchies Mike Pietrus and Joakim Noah (although ill and forced to leave at half-time) who, after attending the NBA Paris Game between Cleveland and Brooklyn on Thursday, had decided to prolong the pleasure by returning to their seats in the courts of the Accor Arena, Paris was dominated (85-92), Saturday evening, by the intractable leader of the French Basketball Championship during the poster at the top of the 19th day of Betclic Elite.
“There is a feeling of regret”
“There is a feeling of regret,” confided Nadir Hifi in the center of the room (23 points including a few 3-point arrows). When we see what we can do in the last minutes we say to ourselves that we could do better and hope for something else. I wanted to thank the public for supporting us and I promise you that we will be able to beat these kinds of teams at the end of the season and even before. » It will be necessary if Paris finally wants to fill its trophy cabinet.
Surprised by a preliminary 0-5, the Parisians quickly got back on track. 5 points in a row from Mehdy Ngouama even allowed them to take the lead (19-14, 8th). The match was on. The teams gave each other blow for blow… for around ten minutes. By the time Mike James adjusts the sights and treats his partners to caviar. A 14-28 straddling the 2nd and 3rd quarter allowed the Roca Team to break away (51-68). Monaco made the Parisians dizzy and the gap increased to 22 lengths before the last act (55-77, 30th).
A final act which ultimately offered an improbable scenario to the spectators with a suspense unthinkable a few moments before (81-86, 38th). A reaction too late. The Parisians, who suffered their 6th setback in the championship and slipped to 4th provisional place, were able to measure the gap which still separated them from the reigning French champion and main candidate for his succession. Their next Betclic match will be in their new home at the Adidas Arena at Porte de la Chapelle, on February 11. Perhaps the start of a new story…
Nanterre and the victorious Mets
A little earlier in the day the sensation came from Saint-Quentin where the Metropolitans won (68-82). Led by the Slovenian Alen Omic, author of a titanic match and very close to a triple double (at least 10 units in different statistical categories) with 14 points, 19 rebounds, 8 assists and 1 block, the Mets stopped a series of 5 losses and pocket their 3rd success of the season. If they remain dunces of the championship, they recover the point average from their opponent of the day and relaunch themselves in the race to maintain.
For its part, Nanterre resumes the year 2024 as it concluded that of 2023, not a success. On their floor, Joël Ayayi’s partners (14 pts, 10 rebounds) won (76-68) in front of Strasbourg and consolidated their place in the top 5 of the championship.
