Paris Basketball became the first BKT EuroCup team to seven wins this season, and kept its perfect record safe after a rollercoaster night in Badalona.
Unbeaten Paris showed 'guts' in OT win



On a night when a depleted Joventut Badalona was forced to give big minutes to its teenagers because guards Andres Feliz and Pau Ribas, and big men Ante Tomic and Vladimir Brodziansky were all unavailable due to injuries, Paris Basketball seemed to have taken control early. The visitors opened a 32-46 lead in the second quarter and still led by double digits midway through the third, only to see it all slip away.
"Huge respect to Joventut in this situation," Paris head coach Tuomas Ilsalo pointed out after the game.
"They have a lot of injuries, but the young guys really stepped up, gave them great energy, played with great confidence. We were really on the ropes over there."
Paris found itself down 80-73 with 5 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, and on the wrong end of a 21-6 run. But even though Paris had struggled offensively, especially shooting just 30.0% from downtown, it found a way to send the game into overtime. In the extra session, Paris took the lead and never relinquished it.
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This is Paris's second win this season that has come in extra sessions, after it edged London Lions 102-106 in double-overtime, also on the road, in Round 4. In that game, Paris allowed a buzzer-beating game-tying triple at the end of regulation, and trailed by 5 points in the second OT, but did not allow another basket for almost 4 minutes, ending the game on a 0-9 run.
"This group has a lot of guts, has a lot of confidence," Ilsalo pointed out after the win in Badalona. "In the end, we were able to make the plays we needed."
No team has been as dominant as Paris this season, which has already won five games on the road. The team also has had three wins of 27 or more points plus a 17-point road triumph.
And while those blowout wins are more impressive, learning to survive close games is what takes teams on a long runs to contend for trophies.
After seven games this season, Paris has been doing a lot of both.