Basketball: Dream ends for Paris, swept away by Fenerbahce and eliminated from the Euroleague

Onlookers on Boulevard Ney, in the capital's ^19th arrondissement, may have seen steam rising from the Adidas Arena, the venue for Game 3 of the Euroleague quarter-finals between Paris Basketball and Fenerbahce on Tuesday. And to the great dismay of the 7,500 or so spectators who packed the venue, Tiago Splitter's players lost (88-89 after overtime), seeing their wild adventure in the finest of European competitions , which they were competing in for the first time, come to an end.

Forget Game 2 in Istanbul, where Paris sank at halftime (61-38, final score 89-72). It was a tight start that the two teams offered (25-26 with 7'17 remaining in the second quarter). Until this moment when the Ile-de-France players seemed to be struggling. The Parisian five composed entirely of substitutes offered a messy basketball offensively, like Maodo Lô, a guard supposed to relieve the stars TJ Shorts and Nadir Hifi, but unable to create differences with the ball in hand.

In his defense, the German hadn't played for nearly a month (March 22) due to a hamstring injury. It took Hifi, voted the Euroleague's best young player this season , to work his magic. A finger roll near the basket (5'13 left in QT2) followed by a shot with the backboard to save a possession that had gotten off to a bad start (4'22) kept Paris in the game (29-34). The French runner-up was doing well, trailing by just six points at the break (40-46). Only six, also because the triggerman Sebastian Herrera had found his accuracy again (2/2 on 3-pts, 0/7 in the series before Game 3).

The intensity of a playoff match was compounded by tension, with Parisian winger Tyson Ward clashing with fellow countryman Bonzie Colson, formerly of Strasbourg, at the start of the ^third quarter. It took more than that to get the home side out of their encounter, as they finally came back on a double-step from Yakuba Ouattara (53-53, 5'44 remaining in QT3) and even took the lead after a block from Bandja Sy and free throws from Léopold Cavalière (55-53, 5'01).

With the defense back in place and despite Fenerbahce's 3-point shooting (8/15), Paris was only two points behind at the start of the final period (61-63). It was then a boxing match that took place on the court, each team trading blow for blow. TJ Shorts (29 points including 14 in the ^4th quarter) multiplied the acrobatics and mid-range shots to keep his team hungry, bringing his team back to one possession with a double-step with 52 seconds left (78-80). Then equalizing with a shot from the top of the key, his trademark (80-80, 0'15). Fenerbahce wasted the last possession, heading for overtime.

Five more fatal minutes for Paris Basketball, still lacking collective inspiration in attack and punished by Tarik Beberovic's seven points at the start of overtime (80-87, 2'59). Splitter's timeout changed nothing. A final ball lost by Hifi, coupled with a basket with a foul by Nigel Hayes-Davis on the counterattack, buried their last hopes (82-93, 1'39). Final score 88-98. Courageous, heroic at times, the Parisians left with their heads held high. The date is already set for next season. Now, Europe has been warned.