Paris sinks Monaco, ties French League finals

BKT EuroCup champion Paris Basketball beat AS Monaco 70-77 in Game 2 of their best-of-five French League finals series, tying it at 1-1 as the series now moves to Paris. Nadir Hifi netted 24 points on 5-for-7 three-point shooting, EuroCup MVP TJ Shorts had 21 points and 6 rebounds. Justin Simon scored 14 points while Enzo Shahrvin pulled down 10 rebounds in a victory. Elie Okobo paced Monaco with 15 points, Alpha Diallo scored 14, Petr Cornelie had 11 points and 6 rebounds while Turkish Airlines EuroLeague MVP Mike James scored 10 in defeat.

Paris opened the game with a 1-12 run behind Tyson Ward and Hifi, before 6 straight points from Simon made it 4-18. The hosts did not score their first field goal until 2:28 left in the first quarter, and were held to that just 1 field goal as Paris held 11-25 lead after 10 minutes. But Monaco picked up its offense in the second quarter with Cornelie and Donta Hall giving it a spark, and Jordan Loyd and Diallo each hitting a triple during an 11-0 run that tied it at 31-31.

TJ Shorts and Hifi made sure Paris took a 36-38 lead into halftime, but Matthew Strazel opened the third with a triple that gave Monaco its first lead. However, Paris had a quick response, a 1-13 run with Hifi and Simon in main roles. Monaco cut this double-digit deficit to 51-55 at the end of the third quarter, and tied it at 62-62 in the fourth. But Paris had another answer, this time a 0-6 run behind Shorts, before sealing the game on a long jumper by Hifi in the final minute, making it 66-75 and securing a big win.