Real Madrid took advantage of the loss of the most decisive player in the Euroleague, TJ Shorts, to take Paris. The loss of the American point guard was felt in the final stretch and the Euroleague leader gave up against Chus Mateo’s boys. Campazzo and Tavares were once again the differential factor to straighten the whites’ trajectory in the Euroleague.
The two best guards in the competition, TJ Shorts and “Facu” Campazzo did not start the game on the court. The Argentine’s absence was a tactical issue or a concession to Feliz, one more, because the soul of Paris Basketball was low. Some discomfort left Tiago Splitter’s team lame, blind and one-handed, at least a priori. All of this represents Shorts for Parisians. Almost 40 points, between what he scores and what he assists, depend on the little point guard who is in his own right until now the MVP of the tournament. Without Shorts, Paris Basketball is like the city without the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre. And the locals overcame their loss as best they could. Maodo Lo was in charge of hiding the shortcomings. The German point guard is one of the two players with Euroleague experience on the team and his performance justified it. But in front of us was an experimental Madrid, actually the Madrid that is being seen this season without Campazzo. The lack of aim (0/5 in triples to start) made the team cling to Tavares so that the situation did not become overly complicated.
But everything changed as soon as Campazzo entered the field. His shake-up to the game could not have been more resounding in less time. In just over three minutes of the first quarter he scored eight points without fail and Madrid began to gain confidence as soon as they found themselves in reliable hands. The team settled with Hezonja’s production and from the initial doubts they moved to a maximum advantage of ten points (19-29). Despite the loss of Shorts, Splitter has ensured that his players have very clear ideas and if the results help… they have won ten of the last eleven games – they only lost against ASVEL Villeurbanne – and they have confidence to give. And that is reflected in players who are experiencing their first time in the European elite. Hifi, Malcolm, Ward… everyone dares and that’s how Paris plundered Madrid’s defense in the second quarter. The order that Madrid had established with the presence of Tavares was blown up by the audacity of the locals who scored 31 points in the second quarter.
Madrid fell into their usual vices as the game progressed. He took off again when Musa plugged in and Tavares commanded inside. The differences widened again. They did not go beyond ten points, but Paris did not give up. He was resurrected as soon as Chus Mateo was forced to offer a truce to Tavares. As soon as the giant sat down, everything was left to be decided in the fourth quarter.
The formula was so obvious that Chus Mateo resorted to all his arsenal on the track to face the decisive stage. And that means that Campazzo and Tavares are at the forefront. The center (13 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks) became increasingly important inside and the point guard (17 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists) did everything so that Madrid reached a reassuring advantage in the final two minutes (80-89). There without TJ Shorts, Paris had to raise the white flag.
Baskonia added a fundamental victory in Belgrade against Maccabi to avoid losing the thread of the “play-in”. Laso’s team had the most explosive version of Markus Howard (28 points with 6/9 in triples) to add their seventh victory. The guard had the help of Moneke (17 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists). The Spanish highlight of the day came with Barcelona’s victory against Fenerbahçe. Jasikevicius returned to the Palau and Barça had notable players Punter (25), Parker (15) and Anderson (18) to end their streak of five defeats in the last six games.
85. Paris Basketball (17+31+19+18): Lo (30), Ward (7), Malcolm (11), Jantunen (0) and Hayes (8) -starting five- Sy (5), Kratzer (0), Herrera (0), Hifi (21) and Cavaliere (3).
96. Real Madrid (26+26+18+26): Feliz (6), Musa (12), Deck (11), Ndiaye (2), Tavares (10), -starting five- Hezonja (17), Abalde (10), Campazzo (19), González (0), Garuba (0) and Llull (9).
Referees: Pukl (Esl), Jovcic (Ser) and Panther (Ale). Son eliminated.
Incidences: 7,000 spectators at the Adidas Arena. Match corresponding to the sixteenth day of the Euroleague. A minute of silence was observed in memory of Janis Timma.
16th day: Monaco, 93-Bayern Munich, 74; Maccabi Tel Aviv, 85-Baskonia, 95; Panathinaikos, 103-Armani Milan, 74; Barcelona, 90-Fenerbahçe, 63; Paris, 85-Real Madrid, 96; ALBA Berlin-Zalgiris Kaunas; Partizan-ASVEL Villeurbanne; Anadolu-Red Star (18:30) and Olympiacos-Virtus Bologna (20:15). (All in Movistar +).
Classification (wins/losses): 1. Paris (11/5); 2. Monaco (5/11); 3. Bayern Munich (10/6); 4. Fenerbahçe (10/7); 5. Olympiacos (9/6); 6. Zalgiris Kaunas (9/6); 7.Armani Milan (9/7); 8. Panathinaikos (9/7); 9. Barcelona (9/7); 10. Red Star (8/7); 11. Anadolu Efes (8/7); 12. Partizan (7/8); 13. Real Madrid (7/9); 14. Baskonia (6/9); 15. ASVEL Villeurbanne (6/9); 16. Maccabi Tel Aviv (4/11); 17. Virtus Bologna (3/12); 18. ALBA Berlin (3/12).