The reigning champion Monaco qualified for the semi-finals of the Elite basketball by winning Saturday at Portel (101-70), which did not manage to imitate Nanterre and Paris, winners of Bourg-en -Bresse (90-84) and Cholet (90-72) to offer a decisive support match.
The ASM never trembled in this clash of classes, sweeping away the ESSM with a budget eight times lower in much clearer proportions than at home (85-78). This time she did not let him come back in the last quarter, flying over the match thanks in particular to Jordan Loyd (32 pts at 6/9 at long distance, 29 evaluation) in the absence, like Saturday, of Mike James.
The Rocher club will face Asvel or Saint-Quentin in the semi-finals (best of five matches), opposed on Sunday in Picardy after the first round won by the Villeurbannais (91-75). In the other part of the table, the two elected officials will be known after a support match, Monday (Bourg-en-Bresse/Nanterre) and Tuesday (Paris-Cholet).
Second in the regular season, the Parisians gave back to the Choletais, who came to interrupt their series of 25 victories in all competitions on Wednesday (91-81). They only experienced a slump at the end of the second quarter, which allowed the Mauges club to come back to three units at the break (37-40) thanks to a 13-0.
Tuomas Iisalo’s team, victorious this season in the Leaders Cup then the Eurocup, regained its bite after returning from the locker room (55-41, 26th) to never let go of its prey (79-61, 35th then 84- 65, 37th), carried by his outside triggers, Collin Malcolm (14 pts at 3/5 behind the arc), Tyson Ward (17 pts, 4/5) and Sebastian Herrera (13 pts, 4/9).
Nanterre, for its part, offered at least one last match to its emblematic coach Pascal Donnadieu, who will leave at the end of the season a position held since 1987. Trailing by six lengths at the start of the fourth quarter (70-64), the Hauts-de-Seine club came out on top thanks to the hot shots of Bastien Pinault (20 pts at 6/8 at long distance) then of Juhann Begarin (11 pts), author of a spectacular dunk to put his team in front two minutes from the end (85-84).
Then with a lobbed pass from the other end of the field to send Joël Ayayi widening the gap 1 min 16 sec from the buzzer (89-84). Zaccharie Risacher, announced in the first choices of the 2024 NBA draft, broke his record for points (28) but missed his last minute, with a walk then an offensive foul which cost dearly in the end.