Paris Basketball won a fifth match in a row this Wednesday in the European Cup, dominating the Lithuanians of Zalgiris Kaunas (83-77).
Paris Basketball continued its astonishing discovery of the Euroleague on Wednesday by dominating Zalgiris Kaunas at home (83-77), co-leader before the match, to record a fifth victory in a row.
After more than a quarter of the regular season played, the Parisians are in a group of five teams just one victory behind the leading duo, FC Barcelona and Fenerbahçe (seven wins for two defeats). They will travel to Catalonia on Friday with the opportunity to sit on the leader’s couch, incredible just a month ago when they started the first C1 campaign in their history with two defeats.
But nothing has resisted them for several weeks and the Lithuanians, very clumsy at long distance (4/23, 1/14 at half-time), in turn bit the dust against the band led by TJ Shorts (21 pts at 2/3 long distance and 6 assists), Nadir Hifi (10 pts and 5 rebounds) and Colin Malcolm (17 pts at 2/2 at 3 pts).
Paris, first French club
Shorts and Malcolm carried the capital club which widened the gap between the end of the third quarter and the middle of the last. He first inflicted a 10-2 on Zalgiris, notably thanks to two winning shots in a row from Shorts and Hifi, to take a six-point lead at the end of the third quarter (62-56).
Before continuing its momentum to count a mattress of 13 lengths a little less than four minutes from the buzzer (78-65), in particular thanks to the contribution of Kevarrius Hayes (10 pts and 9 rebounds), essential in the last quarter -time after being handicapped by three fouls from the middle of the second quarter. Like the other Parisian pivot, Leon Kratzer.
But Paris was able to overcome its deficit inside, and settle the offensive rebound sector abandoned at Zalgiris in the first period (3 shots against 10), thanks to its continuous pressure and its external skill (9/22). And it was Mikael Jantunen, with a winning shot one minute from the siren, who sealed the success of the Parisians (81-72), now ahead of the two other clubs in the French championship, Monaco (5 v/4 d). .) and Asvel (2/7).
