Monaco and Boulogne-Levallois beaten at home in the first match of the Betclic Elite quarter-finals
And four out of four for the teams on the move (and therefore less well ranked in the regular season) in this start of the Betclic Elite play-offs! Limoges and ASVEL had been surprised on Tuesday and Wednesday, it was the turn of Monaco (2nd in the regular season) and the Metropolitans of Boulogne-Levallois (3rd) to fall in their room. The Roca Team tried everything to come back before exploding against solid Strasbourgers (100-87) while the Ile-de-France residents gradually gave in against Pau-Lacq-Orthez also taking a slap (94-77). Here are the first four of the championship in a position to be eliminated in match 2!
Could Strasbourg be becoming Monaco’s pet peeve in France? Wednesday in an incredulous Gaston Médecin room, the Alsatians dominated the debates after leading the match with a scathing 8-0, then we finished with much more control to give the score the appearance of a correction (100-87). In four matches between the two teams this season, the SIG has now won 3 times, it only gave up after extra time last March (105-103 ap). It was also the last time that the Monegasques had conceded 100 points or more. Their defense never found the solution against John Roberson (20 points at 7 of 7 shooting) and Yannis Morin (17 points at 8/9).
Despite a combative Alpha Diallo (22 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists), Sasa Obradovic’s players showed too many shortcomings on Wednesday night to hope to catch up in the final minutes. Unable to close the game, they even let Strasbourg widen the gap at the end of the match, giving the final score the air of a real correction.
The Metropolitans sink with a discreet Will Cummings
In Levallois, the Metropolitans suffered a real correction in the end (94-77). A barely believable result knowing that a fortnight ago, during this same contested poster in Béarn, it was the Pau who lost 15 points at home (86-71). But at the Palais des Sports Marcel-Cerdan, they offered a solid performance from start to finish, relying on the whole team: 6 players finished with 10 points or more with Justin Bibbins as the figurehead (24 points with a 5 of 9 at three points). With 17 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, Gregor Hrovat was also very valuable.
On the Mets side, despite 9 assists, Will Cummings did not offer a performance worthy of his status as MVP of the season, limited to 11 points and 21% shooting success (3 of 14 including 1 of 7 at three points) and losing 3 balls. Lahaou Konaté also struggled with 7 points (2 out of 10 shooting) and Michal Michalak couldn’t find the net in the game (2 points and 0 out of 7 shooting).