Faced with Partizan Belgrade and a few thousand fans at the Adidas Arena Porte de la Chapelle, Paris Basketball withstood the pressure to win for the fourth time in a row in the Euroleague, 74-71 on Matchday 8. At the end of a heated encounter, the club from the capital, which is new to the premier competition, continued its fine adventure with a third home success.

However, the Paris venue, nestled in the 18th arrondissement, was largely taken over by Partizan Belgrade fans. Grouped en masse in one of the stands, but also scattered here and there throughout the stadium, some 2,000 of them made their voices heard incessantly, while on the other side, the supporters of the “Parisii” collective did their best to remind us that “it’s not just about the fans, it’s about the fans”.This is Paris“in their own words.

Ntilikina and company get off to the best start, but…

On the pitch, Paris had the advantage, buoyed before the match by three consecutive victories over Monaco, Berlin and Vitoria – at home last Friday – while the Serbian club was experiencing the opposite trend, with three defeats in a row. Applauded on his introduction, Olympic vice-champion Frank Ntilikina got the ball rolling in a tight first half that was generally dominated by the Parisians. Ntilikina, with eight points, and Carlik Jones (author of a double-double with 20 points and 10 assists) were the two architects of the Serbs’ first act, while Nadir Hifi did the Parisians a world of good with seven points and three rebounds. He also finished top scorer for his team with 17 points (4 rebounds).

Leading by a small margin at the break (37-35 MT), Tiago Splitter’s men then suffered more in the third quarter despite the contribution of Hifi and Yakuba Ouattara (11 points, 3/4 three-pointers). As the minutes ticked away, the tension became more and more palpable as the game drew to a close, with each club passing the other again, until TJ Shorts delivered with 22 seconds remaining (13 pts, 8 assists). Mikael Jantunen’s final free throws, and a last missed three-point attempt from Partizan, sealed a match with a great atmosphere.