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Paris Basketball finally claimed its first European win of the season. Two days after a frustrating outing against Partizan, Maxime Lefèvre’s team defeated Žalgiris Kaunas 82-78 at adidas arena on Thursday evening, in a game that remained tense until the final minute. Nadir Hifi delivered the spark Paris had been waiting for, Allan Dokossi stood firm in the battle inside, and the Parisian club brought a little order to its EuroLeague start.
A win that changes the mood
The start of the European season had left a messy impression, with energy and bursts of tempo, but also too many turnovers and not enough composure in the moments when the opponent tightens the game.
Paris needed more than just a result. It needed a game to hold on to. The start of the European season had left a messy impression, with energy and bursts of tempo, but also too many turnovers and not enough composure in the moments when the opponent tightens the game.
Against Žalgiris, the scenario was not clean from start to finish. That is precisely what makes the evening interesting. Paris went through difficult stretches, watched Kaunas come back, then take the lead in the fourth quarter, without falling apart. At 76-71 for the Lithuanians, there was little room left for grand statements. They had to defend, choose the right shots and stop feeding the opponent.
The response was concrete. Paris closed down the paint better, regained its clarity in the half court and eventually snatched a four-point victory. The European record moves to 1-2, but the final performance carries more weight than a simple line in the standings.
Hifi takes the spotlight back at the best moment
Nadir Hifi did not get everything right. His overall shooting still reflects the inconsistency of his start to the campaign. But basketball forgives a lot when the final possessions are played with composure. The Parisian combo guard finished with 21 points, three rebounds and two assists, most notably making the plays that turned the end of the game around.
He first helped Paris escape the vise when Žalgiris appeared to have taken control. Then he took responsibility for the final shots, in that nervy style that sometimes makes coaches wince before making an entire arena rise to its feet. A pass to restart the movement, a big shot, then the points that locked up the score: Hifi chose the best moment to remind everyone why Paris accepts his risk-taking.
Around him, TJ Warren contributed 14 points before an ejection that could have proved costly, while the team protected the ball better than at the start of the week. This detail is anything but decorative. Against Partizan, turnovers weighed Paris down. Against Kaunas, they were limited enough to give the defense a chance to do its job.
Dokossi answers the Valančiūnas challenge
The other thread of the game was under the basket. Žalgiris logically looked to Jonas Valančiūnas, a former NBA big man and natural anchor for slowing the tempo. Paris did not erase him, but disrupted him enough to prevent Kaunas from settling into lasting comfort.
Allan Dokossi was valuable in that battle. His eight points, eight rebounds and block do not tell the whole story of his evening, but they capture the essentials: presence, mobility, impact. In the final minutes, his defensive intervention on Carsen Edwards mattered as much as a basket. Edwards still finished as Žalgiris’ leading scorer with 19 points, ahead of Azuolas Tubelis, who scored 18 points, proof that the Lithuanians had answers. Not enough, however, to survive nearly three minutes without scoring down the stretch.
This win does not yet place Paris in a comfortable position. It gives them something better: recent proof that they can win a close EuroLeague game without being brilliant for forty minutes. What follows will show whether this success becomes a true starting point, but before the derby against ASVEL, Paris has at least recovered something that cannot be worked on in practice: a little breathing room.