TJ Shorts and Paris beat Panathinaikos for the second time

By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net

Paris Basketball got a big win and created a logjam in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings with just two rounds left.

The French side prevailed 101-98 over Panathinaikos with TJ Shorts putting on a show, just missing a rare triple-double.

The MVP of the round had 20 points, 14 assists, and nine rebounds in his best game yet.

Thanks to this result, Paris is tied with Crvena Zvezda, Barcelona, Anadolu Efes, and Real Madrid between the 6th and the 10th position with an 18-14 record, creating distance from the 11th spot where Milan and Partizan are tied at 16-16.

Kendrick Nunn had 22 points, eight rebounds and nine assists, flirting also with the triple double, and Kostas Sloukas added 20 points for Panathinakos, who remained tied with Monaco at 20-12 in the third position. The two teams face each other next week.

On the last shot

Playing for their playoff lives, Paris managed to close the first period up by 10 points (33-23).

The lead was extended to 13 points (38-25) after a three by Sebastian Herrera, but Panathinaikos reacted and trimmed it to two points (44-42) with a 17-6 run.

Still, that was not enough for Paris to break, as the guests rallied once more and closed the second quarter up by eight points (56-48), making their one 12-4 run with Tyson Ward scoring 13 first-half points.

With the French side shooting at while and with 60% in threes, Panathinaikos didn’t have an answer in the third quarter. Paris entered the last period leading by 17 points (86-69) after scoring 30 points in 10 minutes.

And once more, the Greeks saved the best for last. Thanks to a 17-5 partial score, Panathinaikos made it a five-point game (91-86) with five minutes left.

The game turned into a dog fight, and with 14 seconds left, Cedi Osman with a big three made the score 98-95 giving his team a fighting chance. Mikael Jantunen made one of two free throws (99-95), and Juancho Hernangomez trimmed the lead to one (99-98) with four seconds on the clock.

Jantunen was fouled and this time made two free throws (101-98), and Hernangomez missed the chance to send the game to overtime at the buzzer.

Photo credit: EuroLeague