Maccabi Tel Aviv came up short to red hot Paris 93-81 as TJ Shorts showed exactly why he is considered to be one of the best players in the Euroleague this season as he did as pleased from start to finish to help his team to their 9th straight victory. The yellow-and-blue’s record dropped to 4-9 on the season with Barcelona arriving in Belgrade on Thursday for the second half of the double week while a Derby date with Hapoel is stated for Sunday at Yad Eliyahu.

Randolph scored 14 points while Jaylen Hoard, Rokas Jokubaitis and Marial Shayok all had 12 points.

“We kept fighting but we have to give them credit,” Maccabi coach Oded Katash said. “For a lot of minutes in the game we couldn’t find answers for their tempo and you can see that they played together for a few years and we couldn’t really find a way to slow them down. We weren’t patient enough anf didn’t execute well and we have to learn from this.”

“I told the guys before we came here that it would be a different type of game without a crowd and that we have to bring the juice, the energy and the guys did that,” Paris coach Tiago Splitter said. “They played well and aggressive and followed the game plan. We relaxed a bit after halftime, but we won the game and stayed solid with our game. We did a better job when we understood what Maccabi was trying to do and the guys did a good job.”

Captain John Dibartolomeo spoke about the loss and looking ahead to their next contest, “We need to focus on the Barcelona game. This was tough loss and Paris is in good shape. It’s frustrating because I don’t think awe played our best for 40 minutes and we have to give them credit. We need to turn to the next one as we have another important game on Thursday.”

TJ Shorts led off the game from deep for Paris while Levi Randolph scored for Maccabi Tel Aviv to get the game off and running, Tyson Ward added points from the inside and outside, Wenyen Gabriel responded with a basket in the paint but a jumper by Shorts gave the visitors a 10-6 lead midway through the first quarter. Maodo Lo drilled home a pair from downtown, Nadir Hifi also scored from beyond the arc and added a deuce, Marial Shayok and Jasiel Rivero scored a pair as the yellow-and-blue stayed within striking range but down 22-18 after ten minutes of play.

Shorts began the second quarter with points, Rivero and Kevarrius Hayes traded baskets, Collin Malcolm and Shorts scored yet again for Tiago Splitter’s, Lo went from the inside and outside to help Paris to a 37-24 lead with five minutes left in the half. Banda Sy went from deep, Hifi added a deuce, Rokas Jokubaitis tried to keep Maccabi close but Hifi scored a pair of buckets as Dibartolomeo and Randolph hit triples but Oded Katash’s team went into halftime down 40-36.

Randolph hit a trio of free throws to start the third quarter, Shorts put in a pair of baskets, Leon Kratzer scored and Ward put down an alley-oop while Shayok came back with a corner 3-ball but Paris stayed in front 60-42 midway through the period. Hoard dunked, Lo scored a 3-point play as did Jokubaitis, Randolph and Jokubaitis hit from midrange as the latter added a layup to cut the Paris lead down to 68-58 after thirty minutes of action.

Shayok hit a jumper to get the fourth quarter underway, Hayes dunked, Shorts put in a layup, Jokubaitis put in a 3-point play, Sorkin knocked down a jumper, Ward and Lo went from deep, Shorts put in a layup and Hoard responded but Paris contend to lead 84-73 with five minutes remaining win regulation time. Hoard dropped a jumper, Ward scored in the paint and then dunked, Will Rayman dialed up long distance but it was too little too last as Paris took the double-digit win.