ninth victory in a row for Paris, new record for a French club

Paris Basketball is unstoppable. The capital’s club lined up, Tuesday, December 3 in Belgrade, against Maccabi Tel-Aviv (93-81) for a ninth victory in a row in the Euroleague, thus breaking the longest series of invincibility of a club in the French championship in the competition.

The Parisians, who have not lost on the European scene since October 17 (109-107 in the Bayern Munich arena), exceed the eight consecutive victories achieved by AS Monaco last season in the 22^e at 29^e daytime. They will go to Olympiakos on Friday in the shoes of the sole leader (ten victories for three defeats), after the setback of Fenerbahçe in Vitoria (88-76).

“Since the start of the season, I have told the players that we are going to fight in every match. Afterwards, we have to take the shots, and the players are currently feeling confident” reacted to Euroleague TV microphone Tiago Splitter, the Brazilian coach of Paris.

The club, created only in 2018, defies all logic for its first season in the biggest European competition for which it is invited as winner of the Eurocup. However, it was as bosses that the Parisian players won for the fifth time away, Tuesday in Belgrade, where Maccabi Tel-Aviv plays its home matches, in front of a very small crowd.

TJ Shorts Takes Charge

They never really shook, being up to 21 points ahead midway through the third quarter, thanks to their aggressive defense, their quick transition game and their outside skill. They thus had a 50% success rate at long distance at half-time (10 out of 20), including 3 out of 4 for Maodo Lô (11 points at the break, 19 in the end) and 3 out of 6 for Nadir Hifi (13 points at half-time, 15 in the end).

The capital club then slowed down, particularly in defense and at long distance (0 out of 7 in the 3^e quarter-time, 12 out of 33 in the end), letting the Israelis return to less than ten units at the start of the fourth quarter (68-60). But they were then able to count on TJ Shorts, their best player who took things in hand, for himself (22 points) or the others (8 assists), like on this alley-oop delivered to Tyson Ward to give back twelve lengths ahead at 1 minute 45 seconds from the buzzer.

“We had to come together and keep our energy in this empty room. We relaxed a little in the 3^e et 4^e quarter time but we had the patience to finish well”underlined Tiago Splitter. With Lô, Ward (14 points) was another key player in the Parisian success: his interception one minute from time sealed the historic ninth consecutive victory.

Asvel breaks the curse against Real

And to enhance this beautiful European evening of French basketball, Villeurbanne (Asvel) won at the expense of Real Madrid 80 to 78, at the Décines-Charpieu Arena thanks to two final decisive actions.

“Beating Real Madrid is one of the biggest victories we have achieved in the ten years we have been here with Tony [Parker, le président du club] who had very strong words this [mardi] morning and after the match for the players who must believe in themselves »declared the deputy president of Asvel, Gaëtan Müller.

The Rhone club, however, remained on a series of ten consecutive defeats against Real Madrid, whom it had not beaten since 2003. At half-time, Asvel led 51-43 but a catastrophic third quarter – lost 23 -8 – almost caused its loss with the great performances of Mario Hezonja, author of 19 points in total, and Gabriel Deck (17 points).

At the start of the final quarter, Villeurbanne found itself trailing 66-59 but Théo Maledon (23 points, 7 assists) was once again decisive in his team’s success. The six points he scored at the start of the last quarter allowed Asvel to get back into the game with the score going from 61-69 to 67-69. It was again Maledon who equalized nine seconds from the end (78-78).

“We were able to bounce back after a period that was not to our advantage. The players managed to find the resources to win. That’s what’s even more beautiful. They deserve it”commented Asvel coach Pierric Poupet.

The Argentinian Facundo Campazzo almost gave Real Madrid victory at the last minute, one second before the siren, but André Roberson’s counter, validated by the video, and the basket that followed, signed Paris Lee (13 points, 4 passes) ensured the success of Asvel.

With five victories and eight defeats, the Villeurbannais remain in the race for the top 10, synonymous with qualification. They rise to 14^e rank, one victory away from Real Madrid (12^e) who conceded his seventh defeat and confirmed his sluggish start to the season.