The French team led by as many as 20 points in the closing stages after a flowing team effort
Paris rediscovers its groove against Crvena Zvezda, ends six-game losing streak in style
Informes de partidos
3 Min lectura
Regular Season
Round 18 of 38
Regular Season
Paris BasketballPBB
10292
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet BelgradeCZV
Overview
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Paris Basketball celebrated a 102-92 home win over Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade on Tuesday night to improve to 6-12 and snap a six-game losing run, with five home players finishing in double figures in points and the hosts forcing 19 turnovers from the disjointed visitors.
The French team led from start to finish and was up by as many as 20 points in the closing stages, 100-80, as Zvezda failed to keep up with the relentless pace which saw Paris amass 10 steals and dish out 23 assists.
Zvezda dropped to 10-8 after suffering its sixth loss in the last nine games, as too many of its players performed well below par against the fast-flowing home side which hustled tirelessly and made big shots when it mattered.
Justin Robinson paced Paris on 16 points and 8 assists while Nadir Hifi chipped in with 15 points and 6 assists as the dynamic duo led the charge. Lamar Stevens netted 14 points, Amath M’Baye scored 12 and Momo Faye amassed 10 to round out a flawless team effort.
“I am proud of the guys and the organization as we battled through adversity,” Robinson said in his post-game comments. “It’s a piece in the puzzle and hopefully we can keep this going and move upwards. We’ve been playing well, we just couldn’t finish. It’s good for us to get a finish tonight and feel how it is to win the game.”
Hifi added: “It’s a great feeling to win at home. We showed a good face last week in Madrid, and tonight we won against a very good team. No one said the EuroLeague was going to be easy but we have to trust each other and keep working.”
Zvezda closed in several times during the game, but each time the home team’s lead looked threatened Paris responded with either a three-pointer or a fast break which kept Zvezda at bay, as the visiting team also struggled against some aggressive defending.
Jared Butler stood out for Zvezda with a game-high 31 points as he poured one shot from downtown after another in a historic fourth quarter. His 22-points in the final 10 minutes marked the second-most points ever scored by a single player in one quarter, bested only by Carsen Edwards's 26-point outburst in a game last season for FC Bayern Munich.
Codi Miller-McIntyre scored 18 points and Chima Moneke added 17 points and 10 rebounds, but the trio received virtually no support from the rest of the crew as Jordan Nwora finished on a mere 3 points while Devonte' Graham – who went scoreless – played for just 2:02 minutes, which came in the first half.
“Paris deserved to win,” Zvezda’s head coach Sasa Obradovic said. “We had some bad decisions on the court and all we can do is congratulate Paris. We didn’t defend well or challenge their shots. We lacked energy and fitness as we failed to stop their fast breaks and struggled on offense. We just weren’t good enough and didn’t have enough productive players to win this game.”
Paris head coach Francesco Tabellini was purring with delight after the game, pointing out that his team had regrouped after a series of tough losses to give the fans something to cheer about before the upcoming festive period.
“It’s always a special feeling to win the last game before Christmas,” he said. ”We were resilient and able to regain our composure and tried to push our togetherness a little bit further. A lot of players in double digits and that feels good. It was difficult getting home with that bitter feeling after a number of close defeats, but we managed to dig deep and rebuild.”
