Following their victory over Milan last week, Paris Basketball once again had the opportunity to extinguish a team’s playoff aspirations as they hosted Maccabi Tel-Aviv on Thursday. In what marked their final home game of the Euroleague season, the Parisian club once again played the role of heartbreaker against Oded Kattash’s team, securing a decisive 113-80 win.
For one of the first times this season, the French champions managed to maintain their offensive success throughout the entire match, leaving their visitors with nothing. Key contributors to this dominant display were Justin Robinson, who had an exceptional game with 25 points and 6 assists, and the agile Allan Dokossi, who added 14 points and 4 rebounds. Their performances have been consistently excellent since the appointment of coach Julius Thomas.
On the other side, Maccabi’s long-range shooting proved to be a significant weakness, as they converted only 8 out of 35 attempts from beyond the arc, making it difficult to secure a win at the Adidas Arena. This inaccuracy was epitomized by Lonnie Walker, who despite scoring 16 points, struggled significantly with his shooting, making just 5 out of 14 attempts. French player Jaylen Hoard also faced considerable difficulties, scoring only 3 points on 1-of-6 shooting.
A Blistering Start
With a clear determination to show no mercy to their opponents, Paris began the game with four impactful plays. Allan Dokossi drove forcefully to the basket in transition, followed by Derek Willis blocking Jaylen Hoard’s shot. Justin Robinson and Sebastian Herrera then hit consecutive three-pointers, giving Paris an early 8-2 lead in the second minute.
This intensity contrasted sharply with the Israeli team, who were often forced into fouls. With 5 turnovers in the first five minutes, including 4 by Jimmy Clark III alone, Maccabi was quickly punished in transition, falling behind 21-12 by the 5th minute. Despite strong scoring runs from Lonnie Walker and O’shae Brissett, Paris maintained their lead, with Herrera adding two more triples in the first quarter to extend the advantage to 29-15 by the 7th minute.
Paris achieved their best offensive quarter of the season, scoring 41 points (just two points shy of the competition record for a single quarter) with exceptional three-point shooting, making 6 out of 10 attempts in the period. The quarter concluded similarly to how it began, with a powerful dunk from former Dijon player Allan Dokossi just seconds before the buzzer, putting Paris up 41-24 at the end of the first quarter.
Julius Thomas’s team maintained this frenetic pace into the second quarter. Driven by Amath M’baye, who executed two impressive fade-away shots near the baseline, they extended their lead to 20 points (49-29) by the 14th minute. Following this, the home team experienced a significant scoring drought, failing to score for over three minutes.
However, even this lull was not enough to allow the Israelis to close the gap. Maccabi’s poor long-range shooting (4-of-16 in the first half) proved costly, and Nadir Hifi capitalized, hitting two high-level three-pointers himself to make it 55-34 by the 18th minute. Despite a poorly managed final possession, the French champions held a comfortable lead at halftime, 61-38.
Paris Maintained Their Lead Until the End!
Paris continued to nurture their lead after returning from the locker room. Justin Robinson set up Dokossi for another score (66-40, 21st minute) and then hit his second three-pointer of the evening (69-40, 22nd minute). The deficit even surpassed 30 points after a silky mid-range shot from the home crowd favorite (85-51) and continued to grow until the end of the third quarter.
This created a situation where the final quarter became largely ceremonial. The momentum did not shift; on the contrary, Paris even extended their lead to 40 points (111-71) by the 37th minute. This magnificent victory, while having no impact on Paris’s standing in the league, effectively condemns their opponents to elimination from the Euroleague.
