By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Paris Basketball is not an underdog anymore. The French side beat Barcelona on the road and the final 103-87 proves the magnitude of their feat.
TJ Shorts with 24 points and nine assists was once more a one-man show, Maodo Lo added 20 points, Nadir Hifi had 15 points and Tyson Ward added 13.
Still, it’s the short dynamo of a guard that makes everything happen for the French side.
Barcelona couldn’t keep up and made 18 turnovers with Jabari Parker scoring 19 points and Juan Nunez adding 15.
Kevin Punter had an off night with four points and as a result, Barcelona and Paris are now tied at 7-3 behind Fenerbahce which remains alone on the top of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings with an 8-2 record.
A game of runs
Paris hit the ground running in the first period, which ended with the guests having a 31-18 lead thanks to 10 early points by TJ Shorts.
In the second quarter, however, even if it started with Paris stretching their lead to 15 (33-18), Barcelona took over, tied the score at 37 with a 19-4 run, and got the 48-45 halftime lead thanks to a shot by Juan Nunez and with Parker having already 12 points.
Paris didn’t back down, closed the third period up by three (73-70), and jumped to an 88-77 lead with five minutes left in the game with seven unanswered points.
Parker managed to cut the lead to eight (88-81), but another 11-0 run by Paris followed (99-81) and the outcome was decided.
Photo credit: EuroLeague