Not only did he score the game-winning three, but he was instrumental in his team’s fourth-quarter comeback
Nigel Hayes-Davis reminded everyone of his All-EuroLeague talent against Paris
Article
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 31 of 34
Group Regular Season
w
l
w
w
w
l
w
l
l
l
Sat on 3 points at halftime, it looked like Nigel Hayes-Davis was set for another off night in Round 31.
The Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul star came into Tuesday night after netting 8 points in Round 29 and 9 points in Round 30, so given the high standards we have come to expect from the All-EuroLeague forward, it was a surprise to see him struggling again.
He wasn’t the only one. Fenerbahce looked out of sync as a team and trailed 44-51 to Paris Basketball at the interval, then 71-84 after 30 minutes, with Hayes-Davis having added 2 points to his tally. On a night that Fenerbahce could have wrapped up a place in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs, it looked like being a damp squib.
What happened next? Fenerbahce rallied. And most importantly, Hayes-Davis did Hayes-Davis things.
With his team starting to gain some momentum, having cut Paris’s lead to six points at 80-86, Hayes-Davis knocked down a three-pointer. Bang! 83-86.
Then another. Bang! 86-86. Fenerbahce had led just once in the game to that point, at 9-8, but the 30-year-old made it a personal 8-0 run by scoring inside and causing a huge eruption inside Ulker Sport and Event Hall. With 3:36 minutes to go, Fenerbahce had completed its comeback from 15 points down.
There was still a lot to do, though, and Paris refused to go down without a fight. Huge scores by Tyson Ward, Mikael Jantunen and Yakuba Ouattara swung the momentum Paris’s way once again, 91-93, then a three-point play by TJ Shorts gave the visitors a five-point margin, 91-96, with 1.37 minutes remaining.
A runner by Wade Baldwin and a three-pointer by Tarik Biberovic helped tie the game at 98-98 with 20 seconds left, but Shorts looked like he was going to be the hero when he drove to the rim and scored a layup to put Paris 98-100 ahead with 2.5 seconds on the clock. Immediately, Fenerbahce called a timeout as coach Saras Jasikevicius wanted to draw up a play.
This was Hayes-Davis’s time to shine. Marko Guduric inbounded the ball to Hayes-Davis, he stepped to his right and sent up a three-pointer. Bang! A 101-100 Fenerbahce win and a guaranteed place in the playoffs.
“Credit to the guys, we didn’t give up,” Hayes-Davis told EuroLeague TV afterward. “We were down probably 15, maybe. There were times it didn’t look good for us. The fans stayed with us and kept cheering when we were down, and that’s what I always appreciate.
“I was fortunate enough to make a shot. I worked really hard, a lot of shots last night. I missed probably my first eight shots, but keep shooting and the ball will find itself, and fortunately it went in and we got a good win.”
Hayes-Davis ended his night with 19 points, with 14 of those coming in the fourth quarter alone. As Stephen A. Smith might say, he’s a baaaaaaad man.
For the American forward, these types of shots are the fruit of the hours and hours of unseen work that go into his craft.
“It’s just a lot of work. You saw me come early and shoot the ball,” he said to Deniz Aksoy. “The fans and most people don’t see all that work, all they see is the game and go, ‘Why is Nigel missing [shots]?’ You know, we shot thousands and thousands of shots and hopefully the ones, when they count, they go in. Tonight, the one that mattered the most went in.”
Fenerbahce fans will be hoping that this clutch, cold-blooded moment by Hayes-Davis will spell good news heading into the postseason as the Turkish side goes in search of its second EuroLeague championship. For now, though, the club will just be focusing on securing home-court advantage in the playoffs.