TJ Shorts led his new team, Paris, to a comfortable victory against Dijon with a score of 81:64 at the start of the new season of the French championship.
Paris began their season with a win at home, marking the debut of the duo that arrived from Bonn, point guard TJ Shorts, and coach Tuomas Iisalo. Paris maintained their lead from start to finish, steadily increasing their advantage from quarter to quarter, ultimately kicking off the new season in style.
At the very start, Shorts hinted that he would be the team’s standout player, finishing the match with 19 points and five assists. Ndir Hifi scored one point less, Tyson Ward contributed 14 points, and Bandja Sy, a former player for Partizan, added seven points, while another former Partizan player, Amar Gegic, was not in the lineup.
On the other side, in Nenad Markovic’s team, Cameron Hunt scored 17 points, David Holston added 12, and Gregor Hrovat contributed 10 points. Bosnian national team representative Aleksandar Lazic, making his debut in the French championship, had a performance of six rebounds without scoring in 20 minutes.
In the second game of Sunday’s program, Strasbourg and Nanterre played a closely contested first half. However, in the third quarter, Strasbourg established a crucial lead, and going into the final 10 minutes, they held a 16-point advantage at 56:40. When they went on an 8:0 run towards the end of the last quarter, extending their lead to 25 points, it was clear that it would be a comfortable victory, ending 71:57.
In the winning team, Phill Booth was the standout player with 16 points, while Paul Lacombe contributed 12. On the other side, Desi Rodriguez scored 20 points.
On Saturday, Nancy defeated Chalon in a high-scoring game, and the day was marked by an incredible shot from a Bourg player.
Sasa Obradovic’s Monaco began their title defense with a win on the road against Limoges, with a final score of 72:59.