Partizan beat Paris 92-79 to go 2-0 in EuroLeague
Partizan trailed 10-0 at Adidas Arena, took their first lead in the second quarter and now travel to Munich on Friday to face Bayern.
Carlik Jones scored his first points for Partizan in Paris in the fifth minute, after the hosts opened the game with a 10-0 run at Adidas Arena. From that start, the black and whites went on to win 92-79 and collect a second victory in two EuroLeague rounds.
The game was played on Tuesday, September 29, and the two clubs now sit at opposite ends of the table: Partizan are 2-0, Paris 0-2. The referees were Peruga, Fufis and Manuel. Jones finished with 20 points, five assists and three steals, for a performance index rating of 26, and Luca Vildoza and Tonye Jekiri also stood out.
For comparison with the season opener: in the first round, a 92-76 win over Olimpia Milan, Jones had 20 points and 10 assists and was named MVP of the round. In Paris the points were the same and the assists fell to five, but the win again came by double digits.
How did Partizan overcome a 10-0 deficit in Paris?
After ten straight points for the hosts, the black and whites strung together five to close to 7-10, then 9-12. Paris answered with threes from Jeremy Morgan and Tyson Etienne, went up 18-9 and only then eased off: Partizan ended the first quarter trailing 15-18.
The second period opened with a basket from Jekiri, and Paris replied with an 8-0 run that Vildoza stopped with a three (20-26). Midway through the quarter Partizan stayed in touch thanks to threes from Lamar Stevens (30-33), and Ethan Thompson brought the score level at 40-40. The first lead of the game came from the free-throw line, where Nikola Tanaskovic hit one of two for 41-40. Arijan Lakic sent the teams to the break with a three that made it 44-40.
In the third quarter Jekiri opened with six straight points, but Nadir Hifi, T.J. Warren and Frank Ntilikina hit threes to pull Paris back to 50-49. Jared Rhoden tied it after a basket and a bonus free throw, and Partizan regained the lead through Jones and Jekiri. Vildoza scored under the basket to make it 67-60, and Sebastian Herrera hit a three to cut the gap to four by the end of the quarter, 67-63.
Who decided the game in the fourth quarter?
The biggest lead to that point, 73-63, was built by Jones, Tanaskovic and Kyle Allman, and Warren stopped the run. The decisive moment came a little over four minutes from the end: after a Vildoza fast break and a three from Alessandro Pajola, Partizan led 85-69. The black and whites made several mistakes down the stretch but never gave up the double-digit lead. They won the last quarter 25-16.
Vildoza finished with 16 points and six steals, Jekiri with 15 points and seven rebounds, Allman added 10 points, Tanaskovic nine and Stevens eight. For Paris, Hifi scored 19, Rhoden 14 with nine rebounds, and Warren 14.
What did Allman say after the game?
Allman told TV Arena Sport that the hosts had the better start, but that it did not change the plan:
“They started very well, they gave us problems at the start and took the lead, but we managed to take control. After that we played fast and managed to match them physically. I’m happy we were able to win.”
Allman ended the game with 10 points and was one of the three players whose run at the start of the fourth quarter produced the biggest lead so far, 73-63. He then turned to the fans, who filled the stands in Paris in large numbers. “It was great and fantastic. Thank you to them. I want to tell them to keep supporting us,” he said.
Why is Carlik Jones inviting Shaquille O’Neal to Belgrade?
While Partizan were playing in Paris, Zalgiris hosted Olympiacos in Kaunas, and Shaquille O’Neal and Arvydas Sabonis watched from the front row. Jones noticed and wrote a message for the former Lakers center on his Instagram story: “Somebody tell Shaq he has to come visit the Grobari.”
The message is an invitation for O’Neal to come to a Partizan game in Belgrade, not an announcement that he is coming.
What’s next for Partizan?
The next round is another road game. Partizan play Bayern in Munich on Friday, October 2, at 8 p.m. Paris host Zalgiris a day earlier, on Thursday.
My take: the 0-10 deficit was not a problem this team can’t solve. Partizan did not lead until 41-40, and then closed the game with a run across the third and fourth quarters in which Jones, Jekiri, Vildoza, Tanaskovic and Allman all scored. Whether that holds up in Munich, we will see on Friday at 8 p.m.
