Premiere night in Paris! The capital basketball club, born in 2018 and resident of Betclic Élite for 3 seasons, played this Wednesday evening the first match of the championship playoffs in its – short – history. Owner of the club, the American Eric Schwartz could not miss this meeting. He therefore had a front row seat next to President David Kahn. Basketball lover, Lionel Jospin was not far from the duo. But the party was cut short. Despite these distinguished guests and the support of 5,318 spectators, Paris Basketball, runner-up to Monaco at the end of the regular season, was surprised (81-91) by Cholet (7th) during act 1 of the quarter-finals. He will never have led the score.
The LNB playoffs therefore begin with an immense sensation. An earthquake. The Parisians remained in fact on a series of 25 successes in all competitions, establishing the new record of its kind for a French club. We had to go back to January 27 and a defeat against Strasbourg (89-86) to find the trace of a setback for Paris. Since then, nothing has stood up to the capital’s club… All the opponents – in France as in Europe – were losing their teeth.
The partners of MVP TJ Shorts – far from his usual performance – now have their backs to the wall. They are obliged to win on Saturday in the return match of the quarter-finals to avoid a brutal elimination and afford themselves the right to play a good match at home next Tuesday.
If the match started 15 minutes behind the scheduled time, the Parisians will wait a little longer to enter their playoffs. Clumsy, timid, they were overtaken and jostled by the aggressiveness of the Choletais at the start of the match. The latter are quickly taking the lead. And widen the gap: 0-7 (3rd) then 3-12 (5th).
If the Cholet players lost their two league matches this season against Paris, they always posed difficulties for their opponent. Less than a month ago, on April 24, they even led by 20 points (47-67, 26th) before suffering the Parisian revolt and losing after extra time. The trend is confirmed.
Important return match on Saturday
But despite a reversed start, Paris is not panicking. Faithful to the principles of the game, Tuomas Iisalo draws from his bench and rotates his squad. 3 by 3. The method allowed Paris to collect successes and trophies (Leaders Cup in February and Eurocup in April). Tyson Ward reduced the gap before Sebastian Herrera on fire (26 points in the end, his record with Paris) made the 3-pointer do the talking. Paris was no longer very far away (32-33, 16th).
A new gap at the start of the 3rd quarter provoked the anger of Tuomas Iisalo (51-62, 27th). Then the room began to rumble at the start of a final act which its players began 8 lengths behind (58-66, 30th). The walls of the Adidas Arena began to shake. No Choletais hands when shooting. The match was becoming incandescent. Undecided. But Tidjane Salaün, announced in the top 15 of the next NBA draft, showed the extent of his talent. The kid from Charenton compiled the points (19) and grabbed the rebounds (8) despite being 18 years old.
“It’s not the result we expected but Cholet caught us at our own game,” regrets Parisian captain Michael Kessens. They did what we usually do to opponents, they ran into us and we didn’t know how to react. Defensively we let them do too much, they knew how to seize the opportunities, well done to them. But each defeat must serve as a lesson, for us to show that we understand. If we find our gaming identity we can win anywhere, we have already proven it. »
The return match of this series, Saturday in the Mauges, will already be crucial for Paris.
