Summoning the good vibes of spring 2025 will not have been enough for Paris Basketball… Last April, the capital club wrote one of the most beautiful pages in its history in Madrid by taking the scalp of Real during the play-in. But seven months later, the Ile-de-France team continues to decline. In the Spanish capital, she conceded her tenth defeat in eleven matches (95-90).
The dunk of the season for Rhoden?
Afterwards, if Paris moves a little further away from the playoffs, still penultimate in the EuroLeague, it would be dishonest not to highlight the progress of Francesco Tabellini’s squad. Tuesday, by Nadir Hifi’s own admission, it had never existed against FC Barcelona (69-85), “not even for five minutes”. This Thursday, in Madrid, she stayed in front until the 33rd minute, delivering a truly great performance, like Jared Rhoden’s incredible dunk (19 points at 7/8, 4 rebounds and 4 assists). “We must be proud of our efforts, our cohesion and our desire to play collectively, to defend,” insists the Italian coach.
DUNK. OF. THE. YEAR.
Jared Rhoden detonates the rim 🔥🔥🔥#MotorolaMagicMoment @Moto I @ParisBasketball pic.twitter.com/RUm8DXkDI3
— EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) December 18, 2025
Unfortunately, after being up to eight points ahead at the start of the second half, Paris ended up cracking, lacking lucidity in the money-time. He will also have missed a leader at his level in the money-time, with Nadir Hifi off topic (1/11 at 3-points) and much too readable for the Madrid defense. While he had an open shot to put his team back in front 30 seconds from the end, the star player of Paris ended the match logically extremely frustrated…
😳‼️Nadir Hifi’s anger after missing another triple and receiving the practically definitive basket from Theo Maledon
🚨The Frenchman has only scored 1 triple out of 11 attempted in the defeat against Real Madrid
📹@noeliagomezm
pic.twitter.com/Sqeo7zvAEc— Nacho Valles Asensio (@Nachoo_Valles) December 18, 2025
The winning shot for Maledon
While his status as top scorer in the EuroLeague hangs by a thread, with Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot coming within four short lengths, the Alsatian fullback suffered from the comparison with his teammate in the French team, Théo Maledon, impeccable leader of Real Madrid.
Coming off the bench, the Rouennais was masterful with 21 points at 7/11, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 interception and 0 lost balls. Beyond the statistics, he above all conveyed a crazy impression of serenity, going for the winning basket in an acrobatic way.
“We showed courage”soberly commented on EuroLeague TV the one who also wrote the history of the EuroLeague by scoring the millionth point. “In the end, we did a series of big actions, especially on defense and that gave us momentum. »
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Paris must “build on it”
Details which, put together, make the difference in the end and prevent Paris Basketball from taking off again. “We all think of these little things that we could have done better, that could have given us this victory that we want so much”souffle Francesco Tabellini. “We have to build on what we have done, it only depends on us. » But as the end of the first leg approaches, time will also start to run out…
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