Top-seeded Paris beats Besiktas, 72-95

Paris Basketball guaranteed the best record in the BKT EuroCup Regular Season and thus the top-seed and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs by defeating Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul 72-95 in Group A on the road on Tuesday. Paris improved to 15-1 and has already qualified to the quarterfinals while Besiktas dropped to 9-8.
T.J. Shorts paced the winners with 23 points and 6 assists. Collin Malcolm added 15 points, Leon Kratzer had 14 while Nadir Hifi got 11 for Paris. Jonah Mathews led Besiktas with 22 points. Derek Needham added 12 while Matthew Mitchell had 10 for the hosts.
Game Videos
A back-and-forth battle!
Kratzer got Paris rolling with an alley-oop slam, a tip-in and consecutive layups, prompting Besiktas to call timeout at 4-11. Berkan Durmaz stepped up with a put-back slam, Mathews struck from downtown, then Mitchell followed a three-pointer with a jumper as a 12-0 run saw Besiktas take a 16-11 lead. Shorts rescued Paris with a couple of three-pointers, before getting help from Mikael Jantunen to help Paris regain a 20-23 edge after 10 minutes.
Shorts kept Paris in charge
Shorts insisted from beyond the arc early in the second quarter. Kratzer added a layup for a 21-28 Paris lead. Mathews hit a jump hook and Angel Delgado added a floater to bring Besiktas within 25-28. Hifi and Enzo Shahrvin rescued Paris, then Justin Simon's fastbreak slam gave the guests a 28-35 lead. Shahrvin stunned the crowd with an alley-oop dunk before an unstoppable Shorts added a couple of jumpers and a driving layup to keep Paris ahead, 37-42, at halftime.
Malcolm boosted Paris's margin
Kratzer dunked right after the break and Malcolm matched Mathews's jumper with a power layup. Durmaz struck from downtown and Mathews's floater gave Besiktas hope at 44-47. Malcolm kept pacing Paris and his first three-pointer made it a double-digit game, 47-58. Needham and Mathews each struck om beyond the arc but Malcolm kept the guests in charge, 54-64. Shorts and Shahrvin allowed Paris to boost its margin to 58-73 after 30 minutes.
Paris clinched top-seeded status
Delgado tried to ignite Besiktas's comeback with a layup and Mathews buried a couple of three-pointer to give the hosts hope, 67-77, with over 6 minutes left. Jantunen answered from downtown and Hifi added a fast break layup that broke the game open, 67-82. Hifi hit a jumper and Malcolm's three-point play allowed Paris to seal the win in style.