France LNB: Playoff match-ups are determined

To wrap up their regular season, the France LNB clubs played two games in four days getting in Weeks 29 and 30, establishing the final regular season standings and the playoff matchups. Gravelines-Dunkerque had wrapped up the top spot a few weeks ago, but until the final buzzer sounded on the Week 30 match-ups some of the positions hadn’t been determined.

France LNB Top 10:

1). Gravelines-Dunkerque: GD won both of their final two contests to finish their season 21-9, three games ahead of teams in the No. 2, Strasbourg, thru No. 4, Chalon/Saone, all at 18-12. In their final two games they defeated No. 2 Strasbourg, 79:85, on the road, and they beat Dijon, 68:65, in their week No. 29 contest, which was played on April 16th. They will play a best-of-three playoff series with No. 8 Nanterre on May 14, 16, and 18.

2). Strasbourg: Strasbourg had a rough go of things over the last five weeks of the regular season, losing four of the last five games. In the Week 29 contest, they beat Nanterre, 69:79, on the road, and in the Week 30 contest they lost to Gravelines-Dunkerque, 79:85, at home. They draw No. 7 Dijon in the playoffs and will square off against them on May 13, 15, and 17.

3). ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne: The big mover over the last two weeks was ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, jumping three spots from No. 6 to No. 3 with two wins and with loses by Chalone/Saone and Roanne. Lyon beat Paris-Levallois, 78:84, in Paris, and then finished the season with a win over Chalon/Saone, 78:75, at home, in a game that put Lyon ahead of Chalon in the standings. By finishing in the No. 3 position. ASVEL will meet No. 6 MSB Le Mans Sarthe Basket in the quarterfinals on May 14, 16, and 18.

4). Elan Chalon/Saône: Chalon/Saone dropped both of their final two matches, but also fell in four of their last five of the season. The two loses cost them two places in the standings. In Week 29 they lost to Le Havre, 78:83, at home, and in their final game they lost to ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, 78:75, on the road, to drop from the No. 3 spot to No. 4. They’ll play No. 5 Roanne on May 14, 16, and 18.

5). Roanne: Roanne split their last two games, remaining in the No. 5 spot, one ahead of Le Mans and one behind Elan Chalon. In their Week 29 game they soundly beat Nancy, 89:63, at home, and in Week 30 they lost to last place Poitiers, 68:65, on the road. They face No. 4 Elan Chalon in the playoffs on May 14, 16, and 18.

6). MSB Le Mans Sarthe Basket: Le Mans is another club that has been on a skid as the season wound down, losing four of their last five. In the last two weeks they fell from No. 4 to No. 6 after two losses, one to last place Poitiers, 84:92, at home, and then in Week 30 to Nancy, 83:69, on the road. They’ll play No. 3 ASVEL on May 14, 16, and 18.

7). Dijon: Dijon split their last two games, but has won three of their last five and has moved up one seed in the last two weeks. In Week 29 they lost to No. 1 Gravelines-Dunkerque, 68:65, on the road, and defeated Cholet, 75:69, at home. As the No. 7 seed they’ll meet No. 2 Strasbourg on May 13, 15, and 17 in the playoffs.

8). Nanterre: Nanterre fell one spot from No. 7 to No. 8, but still beat Orleans and Cholet on tie-breakers to keep the No. 8 spot and advance to the quarterfinals. They lost their last three games of the regular season. In week 29 they lost to Strasbourg, 69:79, at home, and in Week 30, they lost to Limoges, 73:62, on the road. They’ll square off against No. 1 Gravelines-Dunkerque in the first round on May 13, 15, and 17.

9). Orleans: Orleans finished the regular season 15-15 with four other teams, but they finished out of the playoffs on tie-breakers with Dijon and Nanterre. In the last two weeks they split their two games, in Week 29 they were pounded by Cholet, 82:51, on the road, and in week 30, they put beat-down on Paris-Levallois, 94:67. They lost one spot in the standings with the lost to Cholet, costing them a seat at the post-season.

10). Cholet: Cholet’s come-back ‘bid’ was upended with a loss in Week 30 after winning four straight. They finished at 15-15, but out of the playoff spot on the tie-breaker. In Week 29 they manhandled Orleans, 82:51, at home, and in Week 30 they fell to Dijon, 75:69, on the road.

At the other end of the standings, fighting to remain in ProA, were Nancy, Boulazac, and Poitiers, in that order. Nancy finished the season one game in front of Boulazac to keep their position for the 2013-14 season, while Boulazac and Poitiers will drop to ProB next season.

French Pro A

Standings[standings league_id=8 show_website=false template=nolink]

Week 29 Matches[matches league_id=8 match_day=29 template=summary dateformat=”M. j, Y”]

Week 30 Matches[matches league_id=8 match_day=30 template=summary dateformat=”M. j, Y”]