Monaco, second in the regular season, and Boulogne, 3rd, will have to win away on Saturday so as not to take the door in the quarter-finals.
Like Cholet, who surprised the defending champion Villeurbanne on his land, and Dijon who crushed Limoges at Beaublanc the day before, it was good to travel for this entry into the play-offs.
In Monaco, Strasbourg was certainly not the favorite against the Roca Team, which has long fought for first place in the championship.
But the Monegasques, after a season marked in particular by a long European course stopped in the quarter-finals of the Euroleague, did not manage to overthrow a very effective Strasbourg team.
The fault surely, among others, with the very good performance of Yannis Morin, 17 points and 3 assists to his credit.
After a first quarter to the advantage of Monaco, it was the Sig who took the lead, leading 49-44 at the break.
A gap that the Alsatians have managed to keep and above all to widen.
They notably led by +15 with just over five minutes remaining, before finally reaching the 100 mark.
Surprisingly, there were also some on the side of the Metropolitans 92 floor, where Vincent Collet's men were heavily beaten 94-77 by Pau-Lacq-Orthez, who also came in an outsider costume.
The Elan Béarnais was able to count on the 24 points of Justin Bibbins, author also of 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
The Béarnais, in the event of a victory on their Pau floor on Saturday, can already qualify for the semi-finals.
It would be a great step forward, after having failed each time in the quarterfinals in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
© 2022 AFP