Only one match played in these Betclic ELITE playoffs… and already a first surprise! It is the work of Cholet, winner of Paris Basketball in the first leg (81-91) of this first series of the quarter-finals of the playoffs. By putting an end to the capital club’s series of consecutive victories, the Mauges club at the same time places the Parisians with their backs to the wall, they who are playing their first playoffs in the elite.
Cholet takes Paris into its own trap
This shows that the end of a regular season does not necessarily take precedence over what will happen during the spring games. While Paris Basketball was riding the wave of success with 25 victories in a row, Cholet had laboriously qualified for the playoffs, only obtaining its ticket on the last day of the regular season. But CB nevertheless moved forward determinedly at the Adidas Arena, free of any form of pressure: “When you are in the shoes of the outsider, you have everything to gain”, noted Enzo Goudou-Sinha before the start of the series. The Choletais applied their actions to their words.
The presentation of the MVP and best coach trophies to TJ Shorts and Tuomas Iisalo did not bring luck to the capital club. (Photo: Julie Dumélié)
And the favorite costume seemed, for once, to be a little too heavy for the Parisians. Overwhelmed by the Cholet intensity, the latter were jostled from the start of the game (11-23, 10′), like the three losses of balls from T.J. Shorts (18 points and 5 assists) in the first period. Due to its presence on the free throw line in the 2nd quarter (17, for 25/30 in the end), Paris came close, but without ever being able to take the advantage.
Cholet youth said no to returning to Paris
And while we thought Tuomas Iisalo’s team was capable of reversing the situation at the start of the 4th quarter (69-71, 33′), especially after another burst of heat from his Chilean shooter Sebastian Herrera (26 points including 6/8 at 3-points), Cholet did not reproduce the same blunder as during the last confrontation a few weeks earlier, lost after overtime. In the wake of his young guard, his jewel Tidjane Salaün (19 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists) and the X factor Nathan De Sousa (3 points to 1/7 on shots but 8 assists), the Mauges club continually repelled the Parisian assaults, to finally put an end to the various series of the capital club: invincibility at the Adidas Arena (inaugurated last February) and the record for consecutive victories in all competitions (25).
TIDJANE SALAUN.
THIS IS THE TWEET. 🥶#PlayoffsBetclicELITE pic.twitter.com/QlDXQGQjxG
— LNB (@LNBofficiel) May 15, 2024
With two match points now in his favor, will the outsider Cholet see some form of pressure reappear? The most important in any case, it is undoubtedly Paris Basketball which will have it, now with its back to the wall in this series of quarter-finals of the playoffs, in the best of three matches.
2024-05-15 23:56:27
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