Reigning men's wheelchair basketball champions USA and one of the pretenders to their title, Great Britain, both started their Paralympic campaigns with wins on Thursday.
The Americans started their title defence with a hard-fought 66-56 victory against Spain, while a Gregg Warburton-inspired Britain thrashed Germany at the Bercy Arena.
Spain started doggedly and went point-for-point with the US in a first quarter lit up by a spectacular Jake Williams three-pointer sunk after he pulled off an over-the-shoulder steal inside his own half.
Great Britain got off to a winning start in the men's Wheelchair Basketball. The bronze medalists from Tokyo did not hold back in their opening game against Germany 🏀#Paralympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/Cgog8tawvK
— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) August 29, 2024
The Americans began the second quarter leading just 18-17, with Spain's Jordi Ruiz consistently making baskets as the sides went into half-time separated by three points.
Baskets proved hard to come by at the beginning of the third quarter before both sides found their range to set up a grandstand finale with the score at 46-40 in the Americans' favour.
And it was the defending champions who emerged strongest at the end to claim victory in their opener, thanks in large part to Williams' excellent contribution of 22 points.
Earlier, Warburton hit 24 points as Great Britain opened with a 76-55 win against Germany.
Warburton, twice a Paralympic bronze medallist in 2016 and 2020, said: "Opening game, obviously a few nerves... We've got a lot of work still to do, but first (win) in the books, good start."
The 27-year-old had both feet amputated when he was six months old and was born with an abnormality to his left arm, resulting in it being shorter and having only two fingers.
Despite his dominant performance on the court, Warburton still found faults in his performance: "It's far from perfect. I still missed some easy shots.
"But I'm happy with how the game went and, most importantly, we got a win.
"It was an honour to play in front of such a good crowd," he added of the thousands of fans packed into the arena where LeBron James' USA team beat France in a thrilling Olympic final earlier this month.
The Britons made a fast start in the first quarter and raced into the lead before Germany's Matthias Guntner led the fightback in the second.
But Britain held firm to lead 32-25 at the break even though Guntner was in fine shooting form and would finish with 19 points.
Germany seemed in the ascendancy in the third quarter with Britain beginning to miss regularly from the floor but points from Warburton and Ben Fox kept the Britons' noses ahead.
Britain then proved too strong in a dominant fourth-quarter showing and cruised to a handsome win.
AFP