AMSTERDAM (Netherlands) - Toulouse (FRA) rise to the top, defeating Liman (SRB) 21 - 19 in OT to win the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Amsterdam 2025 on May 18.
After splitting results in pool play, the French side turned it up a notch in the knockout phase, defeating home side Amsterdam and Vienna to earn their spot in the final. They would go on to face undefeated Liman who they had lost to already in pool play.
It was a methodical start to proceedings as you would expect from two physical teams. Liman started out the gate first through buckets on the inside before Toulouse answered back through Hugo Suhard. The electric Zigon went to work early for the Serbians while Toulouse went to Rambaut and Djoko to keep them within reach.
Both sides continued to trade buckets, with a point separating them for the majority of the action. Liman were first to create some distance as a two from Marko Stevanovic put them ahead 10 - 7 with just over 4 minutes to go.
The advantage stayed with the Serbian side until the last couple minutes of action, where the French rallied back thanks to timely twos from Jules Rambaut and paint work from Franck Seguela. Toulouse managed to take the lead thanks to the offensive duo, but a late two from Stevanovic tied things up with seconds to go at 19 apiece.
Seguela managed to fire a shot that was assumed to be the winner at the buzzer, but was ruled out due to it being just after it sounded. The game went to OT, where Paul Djoko came in clutch, drilling the all-important two to hand Toulouse their first stop win of the season in dramatic fashion, a 21 - 19 thriller.
The Joker was the hero was Toulouse, finishing the tournament with a team-high 29 points including 5 in the final against Liman. His impact both offensively and defensively made the French side unstoppable on the day and earned him MVP plaudits in Amsterdam.
In the individual contests, Trey Bardsley (Miami, USA) won the Shoot-Out Contest powered by MVB BOUW while Piotr "Grabo" Grabowski won the Dunk Contest presented by NXT Level.
STANDINGS
Toulouse (FRA)
Liman (ARB)
Vienna (AUT)
Hangzhou (CHN)
Amsterdam RABOBANK (NED)
Carolina (PUR)
Miami (USA)
Vračar (SRB)
Riffa (BRN)
Utrecht (NED)
Lausanne (SUI)
Düsseldorf (GER)
The 3x3 World Tour is back next weekend in Marseille (May 24-25)