Paris survive Payne's 33 to beat Efes 95-90 in Istanbul

A duel decided at the line

Paris Basketball survived a furious late rally from Anadolu Efes to win 95-90 in Istanbul on Thursday, 5 November 2026, and claim a third consecutive EuroLeague victory. The Round 10 contest at the Basketball Development Centre was decided in the final seconds, with Nadir Hifi holding his nerve from the free-throw line after Cameron Payne had dragged the hosts back to within a single point. Neither side managed to build a lead of more than eight points all evening, and the game swung repeatedly before Paris finally closed it out. The win lifted Paris to 4-6, the same record as Anadolu Efes, and kept the French club's revival firmly on track after a difficult start to the season. For Efes, the defeat was a sharp comedown after they had stunned league leaders Panathinaikos by 15 points the previous week.

The opening quarter set the tone for a night of runs and answers. Anadolu Efes took it 26-23, feeding off the home crowd and getting early production from Payne, who looked in rhythm from the first minutes. Paris responded in the second quarter with a disciplined defensive stretch, holding Efes to just 10 points while scoring 19 of their own to take a 42-36 lead into half-time. That six-point advantage was built on patience rather than fireworks: Paris moved the ball, attacked the paint, and refused to let Efes settle into the fast, open game that had served the Turkish side so well against Panathinaikos. Hifi was already central to everything Paris did, scoring and creating in equal measure, and his nine assists by the end of the night told the story of a guard who controlled the tempo whenever his team needed a steady hand.

Payne's night, Hifi's answer

If the first half belonged to Paris as a team, the individual duel that defined the game was the one between Hifi and Payne. Payne finished with 33 points, including seven three-pointers from 13 attempts, in a masterful shooting display that kept Efes in the contest every time Paris threatened to pull away. Collin Malcolm gave him strong support with 20 points, and Bruno Fernando added 14, but it was Payne who carried the hosts' hopes into the closing minutes.

Hifi answered with 28 points and nine assists of his own, earning a performance index rating of 39, the highest mark of the game. He was not alone: Jared Rhoden scored 14 points, TJ Warren added 13 and Tyson Etienne contributed 12, giving Paris four scorers in double figures and a balance that Efes could not quite match. Rhoden's cutting and Warren's experience gave Hifi room to operate, while Etienne's shooting punished Efes whenever their defence collapsed toward the ball. Paris entered the game as the EuroLeague's leading team in steals, averaging 8.2 per game, and second in offensive rebounds at 13.8 per game.

Efes roar back in the third

The third quarter belonged to Anadolu Efes. The hosts won it 34-24, erasing the half-time deficit and taking a 70-66 lead into the final period. Payne was at the heart of the surge, hitting shots of extraordinary difficulty as Efes finally found the rhythm that had deserted them in the second quarter. Paris, though, had already shown on this road trip that they could absorb pressure away from home, having won at Dubai and at Maccabi Tel Aviv before arriving in Istanbul. They did not panic when the lead changed hands, and they kept the deficit to four points rather than letting it stretch into double figures.

That composure proved decisive in the fourth quarter, which Paris won 29-20. The visitors defended with renewed intensity, made their free throws when it mattered, and managed possession intelligently in the closing minutes. With 25 seconds left, Payne hit a three-pointer to cut the score to 91-90, and suddenly the game was on a knife edge. Hifi then stepped to the line and made two free throws for Paris, and when Payne had a chance to tie the game, his attempt was blocked. Paris protected the lead from the free-throw line from there, closing out a 95-90 win that had looked far from certain only moments earlier.

What it means

The result leaves both teams at 4-6 after ten rounds, with Paris sitting 15th in the standings and Anadolu Efes 14th, level on wins but separated by the tie-breakers. Panathinaikos lead the way at 8-2, and the chasing pack is already forming. For Paris, though, the direction of travel is encouraging: three straight victories, all of them earned the hard way, suggest a team that has found its identity after a slow start. Their next test comes at home against Fenerbahce in Round 11, a step up in class that will show whether this run is built to last. Anadolu Efes, meanwhile, host Virtus Bologna next, and they will need to find a way to support Payne when he produces a night like this one. A 33-point performance with seven three-pointers should win most games; on this night, it ran into a Paris side that simply refused to lose.