Guards T.J. Shorts and Nadir Hifi combined for 45 points, 9 assists and 5 steals in the semifinals' opener
Paris's backcourt struck again in Game 1
Article
3 Mins read
Paris Basketball grabbed its 19th win in 20 games by downing the London Lions 99-86 at Adidas Arenas in Game 1 of their best-of-three semifinal series on Tuesday. Once again, its backcourt stars delivered at the right time.
London did a very good job at the beginning of the game, playing aggressive against T.J. Shorts and using Tarik Phillip to take him out of his comfort zone. Shorts was held scoreless in the opening 8 minutes and even had a rare, early trip to the bench midway through the first quarter, when London led 8-11.
Paris head coach Tuomas Iisalo quickly went to Plan B, running his offense through electric combo guard Nadir Hifi, who had 9 first-quarter points to keep his team in the game. When Shorts finally found his rhythm, getting a couple of baskets late in the first quarter, Paris led 30-27.
"We were not very good in the beginning," Coach Iisalo said after the game. "We allowed them to play with their strengths, it is a very dangerous team overall and we saw a lot of firepower on the floor from both teams today."
After a close first half, Paris took off in the third quarter with outstanding defense and its superstar guard and MVP front runner completely on fire. Shorts had 11 points in the third quarter, and 9 in a 14-0 run that bridged between the halves and broke the game open, 66-49. London made a final push early in the fourth quarter but Hifi scored 8 points in the final 3 minutes to make sure Paris kept a safe lead until the final buzzer.
"It is typical for modern basketball: a 20-point lead, even at that point, after three quarters, is not safe at all because of the three-point shots, because of the pace of the game," Coach Iisalo said. "You saw London make another push into the game, so we will need a more solid 40 minutes on Friday to close the series."
Shorts finished the game with 23 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals. Hifi added 22 points off the bench in 23 minutes.
Paris limited London to 2-of-15 field-goal shooting in the third quarter. It held London's top scorer Matt Morgan to 2 points on a pair of free throws and a missed two-point attempt in 24 minutes. London got a strong contribution from David Nwaba, who had 24 points in his first-ever game against Paris. Shorts knows London has a lot of room for improvement and is already thinking about Game 2.
"It is one game. We know that now we have to go to London. It took us two overtimes to win over there [in the regular season]," Shorts said. "That's a tough place to play, they are a good team at home and I know it is going to be a packed crowd. We don't have any time to really digest this one. We are going to dive right into the film probably tomorrow and get ready for the next game."
Paris has a chance to close the series at the Copper Box in the English capital, where London is 4-5 this season. Game 2 is scheduled for Friday at 20:30 CET.
Game Videos
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Magic Moment: Shorts to Kratzer alley-oop!
- 03:45
![https://dve-images.imggaming.com/original/p/2024/04/12/6PB7eiiO7dOluznt5nhPfiSkEvHL3tM7-1712952065955.jpg]()
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Magic Moment: Ngouama to Simon!
- 00:11
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/e37b5383-daa5-4151-8a65-4c3cf112e572.jpg?crop=1238%3A696%3Anowe%3A18%3A44]()
Magic Moment: Simon's fastbreak dunk!
- 00:08
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/3061c539-bc6b-4e6e-8ae0-745ce899718a.jpg?crop=1293%3A727%3Anowe%3A30%3A114]()
Magic Moment: Kratzer's alley-oop dunk!
- 01:27
![https://dve-images.imggaming.com/original/p/2024/04/09/FWHlZEPJXFRDLr914VHwFcIXpo9a03as-1712652442200.jpg]()
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- 01:41
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Magic Moment of the Night: What a monstrous dunk by Ward!
- 00:17
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/abb2946e-0fb2-4401-a9e1-d8af35f0f6f7.jpg?crop=1080%3A607%3Anowe%3A129%3A170]()
Magic Moment: Connor Morgan with a huge dunk
- 00:14
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/f079861a-3bf1-42a6-b48e-044672a5ba77.jpg?crop=1080%3A608%3Anowe%3A91%3A50]()
Magic Moment: Dekker with a two-handed slam-dunk
- 00:12
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/db200755-83d3-4901-bd7c-d432102ff6ef.jpg?crop=1080%3A607%3Anowe%3A231%3A164]()
Magic Moment: What a monstrous dunk by Ward!
- 03:47
![https://dve-images.imggaming.com/original/p/2024/03/26/Mo7x8AJyNYEQPCM3xEN48TwubPhVcTLG-1711490637726.jpg]()
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- 00:31
![https://dve-images.imggaming.com/original/p/2024/03/26/5qj89pER49cak48tBK2DLfKl3cw2eeAT-1711489881598.jpg]()
Magic Moment of the Night: Nwaba steal and dunk!
- 00:12
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/d28d80a6-e8a7-40fb-91ac-a07cc60a0595.jpg?crop=1320%3A743%3Anowe%3A6%3A107]()
Magic Moment: Grantham throws it down!
- 00:14
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/0e820ed7-5bb3-42e9-be3c-e6e69437a547.jpg?crop=768%3A432%3Anowe%3A51%3A27]()
Magic Moment: Kratzer's alley-oop slam!
- 00:14
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/3061c539-bc6b-4e6e-8ae0-745ce899718a.jpg?crop=1344%3A756%3Anowe%3A6%3A132]()
Magic Moment: Kratzer's put-back slam!
