The French side continued its incredible momentum in its debut season in the competition
TJ Shorts leads Paris past Efes for seventh straight win, 84-93
Paris Basketball grabbed its seventh consecutive victory and eighth overall by downing Anadolu Efes Istanbul 84-93 on the road in Round 11. Paris improved to 8-3 in the standings while Efes dropped to 6-5.
TJ Shorts led the winners with 21 points and 10 assists. Collin Malcolm added 15, Mikael Jantunen had 13, and Tyson Ward and Kevarrius Hayes got 11 apiece. Vincent Poirier paced Efes with 15 points. Darius Thompson added 15, Rodrigue Beaubois scored 13, Elijah Bryant had 11, and Dan Oturu got 10. Bryant added 10 assists for a double-double.
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Ward hit a jumper, than Yakuba Ouattara and Jantunen each added a three-pointer to give Paris an early 2-10 advantage. Ward capped a 0-9 run with his second bomb from downtown, then Oturu banked in a close shot for Efes. Malcolm took over with a fast-break dunk, Beaubois found his first points and Oturu soon brought Efes within 10-15. Paris's Nadir Hifi and Efes's Rolands Smits each joined the three-point shootout, before Poirier dunked and Bryant's driving layup got Efes as close as 17-18. Erkan Yilmaz bettered Hayes's layup with a triple, then Shorts restored a 20-22 Paris lead after 10 minutes.
Ward scored around the basket and Shorts's three-point play gave Paris fresh air at 20-27. Bryant beat the shot clock with a rainbow triple that Derek Willis followed with back-to-back layups to make it 27-29. Shorts answered from beyond the arc and Malcolm added a driving layup to extend the lead. Thompson stepped up with a fast-break layup and followed Poirier's floater with a three-point play to put Efes ahead, 35-34. Malcolm scored again and Bandja Sy buried a three-pointer for a 35-39 Paris lead. After Beaubois and Leopold Cavaliere exchanged baskets, Oturu scored in penetration. Shorts's jumper fixed the halftime score at 39-43.
Hayes and Shorts took over after the break and Outarra's put-back layup gave Paris a 39-48 lead. Poirier tried to change things for Efes. Jantunan hit a triple, but so did Beaubois and Bryant to bring Efes within 47-51. Hifi joined the three-point shootout, and Maodo Lo's layup caused Efes to call a timeout at 47-56. Cavaliere capped a 0-7 run with a backdoor layup that Ercan Osmani matched with a put-back basket. Malcolm hit a floater, Cavaliere scored again and Osmani's fast-break slam brought Efes within 53-62. Oturu scored off a steal and Thompson struck from downtown to get the hosts even closer, 58-64. Hayes boosted Paris's margin to 58-66 after 30 minutes.
Hayes scored down low early in the fourth quarter and erased Willis's one-handed slam with a close basket. Shorts added a driving layup that gave Paris a 12-point lead, 60-72. Thompson scored in penetration and Poirier dunked to keep Efes within 64-72. Shorts hit a mid-range jumper, Thompson hit a three-pointer but Malcolm single-handedly boosted his team's lead to 68-79. Bryant fed Poitier for an alley-oop dunk and added a three-point play. Shorts sank another jumper and Poirier's three-point play got Efes within 76-82 with 2 minutes left. Shorts sealed the outcome with his trademark mid-range jumper.