By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Real Madrid had two wins in the regular season against Paris, and they were the favorites, playing at home.
Still, Paris won 81-73 and advanced to the playoffs, finishing 7th in the regular season and getting a match with Fenerbahce BEKO.
TJ Shorts, with 23 points and nine assists, once more led the show, with Rising Star award winner Nadir Hifi adding 15 points and Tyson Ward also having 11 points and seven rebounds.
“That’s shounds amazing, we did the hard way by going to the play-ins but now we got the ticket and we have to enjoy it”, said Shorts when he was asked about the fact that Paris in its first EuroLeague season will compete in the playoffs.
Facundo Campazzo with 17 points and Gabriel Deck with 10 were the only players of Real Madrid in double digits.
The only good news for the “Whites” is that they have one more chance to make it to the playoffs by beating Bayern Munich at home and then facing Olympiacos.
A show by Paris
The hosts had an 18-16 lead, however, Paris completed the first period with an 11-3 run, taking a 27-21 lead, before Andres Feliz made one of two free throws to make the score 27-22 at the end of the opening quarter.
Paris clicked on offense and controlled the rebounds, extending their advantage to 31-24 and forcing a Madrid timeout at the start of the second period. The result was a two-point game (33-31), but Paris kept the lead, and Hifi, with eight straight points, created distance again (41-33).
Madrid simply couldn’t score, and with TJ Shorts having 11 points and five assists in the first half, Paris got a 10-point cushion (46-36).
The guests extended the lead to 13 (54-41), and the alarm sounded for Madrid, which trimmed the lead to six (55-49). Paris once again created distance with seven unanswered points (62-49), but Madrid completed the third period with a 9-0 run to make it a four-point game (62-58).
With the game on the line, Madrid trimmed the lead to one (67-68) and couldn’t get any closer. Entering the last minutes, Paris had a solid eight-point lead (79-71) and didn’t feel any pressure in the end.
Photo credit: EuroLeague